Full Press Release Details
Issues Financial Guidance for Full Year 2019
Year 2019 Revenue guidance in the range of $2,735 - $2,835 million,
representing growth of 5.2 - 9.0%.
Year 2019 Earnings per share guidance in the range of $6.69 - $6.89,
representing growth of 10.6 - 13.9%.
intention to repurchase up to 1 million shares during 2019.
2018 guidance of revenue in the range of $2,560 - $2,640 million and
earnings in the range of $5.98 - $6.12.
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 8, 2019--ICON plc (NASDAQ:
ICLR), a global provider of drug development solutions and services
to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries,
today announced its financial guidance for the year ended December 31,
2019. For the full year 2019 revenue is expected to be in the range of
$2,735 - $2,835 million, representing growth of 5.2 - 9.0% and earnings
per share is expected to be in the range of $6.69 - $6.89, representing
growth of 10.6 - 13.9%.
CEO Steve Cutler commented "We expect 2019 to be another robust
year of revenue and earnings progression for ICON. Supported by a
positive business win trend of a trailing twelve month book to bill of
1.28x, we expect revenue to grow by 5.2 - 9.0% to a range of $2,735 -
$2,835 million. Furthermore, through our continued focus on
efficiency and leveraging our global support infrastructure, we expect
earnings per share to increase by 10.6 - 13.9% to a range of $6.69 -
$6.89. In addition to this organic growth, we feel we have the strongest
balance sheet in the industry and will continue to focus on deploying
capital to maximise shareholder value through a combination of M&A and
The full year 2019 financial guidance assumes:
US dollar to Euro exchange rate of $1.16.
An effective tax rate of circa 12%.
Circa $300 million of free cash flow and capital expenditures of circa
Share repurchases of up to 1 million shares to be executed
opportunistically during 2019 depending on cash commitments to support
M&A pipeline, no additional earnings benefit included in guidance.
With respect to 2018, the company reaffirmed its current guidance of
revenue in the range of $2,560 - $2,640 million and earnings in the
range of $5.98 - $6.12.
In addition, the company repurchased $72 million worth of shares in Q4
ICON will be presenting at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January
8th at 7:30am PT (10:30am EST, 3:30pm Ireland & UK). This
presentation and follow-on Q&A can be accessed live from the ICON
website at http://investor.iconplc.com. A recording will also be
available on the website following the call.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements
are based on management's current expectations and information currently
available, including current economic and industry conditions. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance or actual results,
and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from
those stated in this press release. The forward-looking statements are
subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in
the statements, including, but not limited to, the ability to enter into
new contracts, maintain client relationships, manage the opening of new
offices and offering of new services, the integration of new business
mergers and acquisitions, as well as economic and global market
conditions and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time
in SEC reports filed by ICON, all of which are difficult to predict and
some of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when making
investment decisions. The word "expected" and variations of such words
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are
made and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties
relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in SEC reports
filed by ICON, including its Form 20-F, F-1, S-8 and F-3, which are
available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.
ICON plc is a global provider of drug development solutions and services
to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The
company specialises in the strategic development, management and
analysis of programs that support clinical development - from compound
selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. With headquarters in Dublin,
Ireland, ICON currently, operates from 93 locations in 37 countries and
has approximately 13,680 employees. Further information is available at www.iconplc.com.
President Corporate Finance and Investor Relations