Neogen reports 2nd quarter results.

LANSING, Mic: Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ: NEOG) announced today that its revenues for the second quarter of its 2020 fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30, were $107,803,000, compared to the previous year's second quarter revenues of $107,098,000. Current year-to-date revenues were $209,227,000, compared to $206,724,000 for the same period a year ago.

The second quarter was the 111th of the past 116 quarters that Neogen reported revenue increases as compared with the previous year -- including all consecutive quarters in the last 14 years.

Second quarter net income was $16,276,000, or $0.31 per share, compared to the prior year's $16,051,000, also $0.31 per share. Net income for the second quarter was benefitted by an effective tax rate of 15.3%; the rate in last year's second quarter was 18.5%. Current year-to-date net income was $30,928,000, or $0.59 per share, compared to $31,288,000, or $0.60 per share, for the same period a year ago.

"For the quarter, we had strong performance in a number of our businesses, but we continue to fight challenges in our animal safety markets," said John Adent, Neogen's president and chief executive officer. "Our overall genomics business continued to grow nicely, with revenues up 17%, driven by strong performance at our U.S. operations; these results were augmented by significant revenue increases at our newest global genomics locations in Australia and Canada.

"Our second quarter featured solid growth from our core food safety diagnostic product lines, including our food allergen, general sanitation, and foodborne pathogen testing products," Adent continued. "Despite continuing currency headwinds, our international revenues, which now include sales into 129 countries, increased 6% in the quarter."

Neogen's gross margin was 47.3% of sales in its second quarter of the current year, compared to 46.7% recorded in the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. The change in margin percentage was the result of a product mix shift towards Food Safety products, which have higher margins, and gross margin improvements within our domestic genomics business. Operating income was $18,272,000, or 16.9%, for the second quarter, compared to $18,246,000, or 17.0%, in the same quarter a year ago.

"We continue to generate strong operating cash flow, but our sales results were again adversely affected by the impact of the strong dollar. In a neutral currency environment, we would have reported approximately $1 million more in revenues in the current quarter," said Steve Quinlan, Neogen's chief financial officer. "Our balance sheet is strong, and our...