OREANDA-NEWS. Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015.

Bruker’s revenues for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $478.2 million, a decline of 5.9 percent compared to revenues of $508.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Excluding a 0.6 percent net negative effect from acquisitions & divestitures, and a 7.8 percent negative effect from changes in foreign exchange rates, Bruker reported year-over-year organic revenue growth of 2.5 percent for the fourth quarter of 2015.

Fourth quarter 2015 GAAP earnings per diluted share (EPS) were $0.36, compared to GAAP EPS of $0.15 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Bruker reported fourth quarter 2015 non-GAAP EPS of $0.38, an increase of 27 percent compared to non-GAAP EPS of $0.30 in the fourth quarter of 2014. The Company generated $138.2 million in free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2015, a $76.0 million increase from free cash flow of $62.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is provided in the financial tables accompanying this press release.

For the full year 2015, Bruker’s revenues declined 10.2 percent to $1.62 billion, compared to $1.81 billion for 2014. Excluding a 2.1 percent net negative effect from acquisitions & divestitures, and a 10.2 percent negative effect from changes in foreign exchange rates, Bruker reported year-over-year organic revenue growth of 2.1% percent for 2015.

Bruker reported GAAP EPS of $0.60 for the full year 2015, compared to $0.33 for 2014. Non-GAAP EPS for 2015 were $0.89, a 19 percent increase compared to non-GAAP EPS of $0.75 for 2014. For 2015, Bruker reported $195.0 million in free cash flow, compared to $80.5 million in 2014.

“Our performance improvements in 2015 are clear evidence that the initiatives we have implemented over the past three years are beginning to make Bruker a stronger and more profitable company,” said Frank Laukien, President & CEO of Bruker. “During 2015, we increased our non-GAAP operating margin by more than 300 basis points, we more than doubled our free cash flow, and our return on invested capital (RoIC) reached 21.8 percent, despite currency headwinds and weak demand in some of our markets. Our three-year transformation has enabled us to strengthen our portfolio, lower our fixed costs, reduce our working capital, reinvest in profitable growth opportunities, and improve our processes and systems.

Dr. Laukien continued: “As we look ahead to 2016, we believe we can further improve our profitability by strengthening our commercial practices, implementing lean manufacturing and expanding our outsourcing programs. We also will continue to invest in new products and expand into adjacent markets that we believe will generate profitable revenue growth in the future. With a stronger foundation now in place, we expect to deliver gradually accelerating organic revenue growth, further margin increases, and improvements in our working capital ratio in 2016.”

2016 Financial Outlook

For the full year 2016, Bruker expects organic revenue growth of approximately 3 percent. The Company expects to increase its 2016 non-GAAP operating profit margin by approximately 100 basis points year-over-year. With an assumed 2016 non-GAAP tax rate range of 25%-28%, Bruker expects non-GAAP earnings per share to be between $0.97 and $1.02 in 2016.

Quarterly Earnings Call

Bruker will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its financial results, business outlook, and related corporate and financial matters at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today. To listen to the webcast, investors can go to http://ir.bruker.com and click on the “Events & Presentations” hyperlink. A slide presentation that will be referenced during the webcast will be posted to the Company’s website shortly before the webcast begins. Investors can also listen to the earnings webcast via telephone by dialing 1-866-777-2509 or +1-412-317-5413, and referencing “Bruker’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Earnings Conference Call”. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 and entering conference number: 10080524. The replay will be available beginning one hour after the end of the conference through February 17, 2016.