Eurofins Scientific SE said its earnings rose 44.2% year over year in the second half of 2017, and it forecast higher revenues in 2018.
The Luxembourg-based company, which provides laboratory testing services, reported adjusted net profit of €185.0 million, up from €128.2 million in the last six months of 2016.
Adjusted basic EPS saw a 38.0% year-over-year increase to €10.76 from €7.80.
EBITDA amounted to €306.6 million during the six-month period, up 16.6% year over year from €263.0 million.
Revenues in the first half reached €1.57 billion, an 18.5% increase from €1.33 billion a year ago.
For full year 2017, Eurofins recorded adjusted net profit of €299.1 million, up 35.0% from €221.6 million in 2016. Adjusted basic EPS was €17.49, up 26.2% from €13.86 in the previous year.
The company booked EBITDA of €556.7 million, a 16.1% year-over-year increase from €479.6 million. Revenues totaled €2.97 billion in 2017, up 17.1% from €2.54 billion a year ago.
Eurofins expects revenue to total €3.7 billion in 2018, up from earlier estimates of €3.6 billion earlier. The company also set its adjusted EBITDA target for the year at €700 million. Eurofins said it is "confident" it will achieve its recently upgraded midterm objective of €4 billion in revenues by 2019.
The company is proposing to raise its annual dividend for 2017 by 20% to €2.40 per share.
