Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Missouri) achieved a new quarterly high in its second quarter 2011 sales, reporting an increase of 15% to $637 million. The company saw second quarter sales grow organically by 6%, with the fine chemicals (SAFC) and research product sales growing organically by 10% and 4%, respectively. Also, recent acquisitions contributed 1% and changes in foreign currency exchange rates contributed 8%.
Commenting on the performance, president and CEO Rakesh Sachdev said, "Our reported sales of $637 million set a new quarterly high. Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.93 for the second quarter of 2011 was consistent with our expectation. We have delivered solid performance with organic sales growth in our expected mid single digit range and a 15% increase in adjusted diluted EPS for the first half of the year. Our SAFC sales remained strong with a sequential increase over Q1 2011 levels that resulted in 10% organic growth in this year's second quarter versus the prior year. Strength in SAFC is being driven by continued strong demand for chemicals and precursors for semi-conductor and L.E.D. applications and for industrial cell culture media used for producing biological drugs. All of our Research business units grew sales organically in 2011's second quarter and in line with our first quarter performance. We continue to benefit from our research initiatives in analytical chemistry, biology, traditional chemistry and materials science. This organic growth in research sales coupled with a 2% acquisition benefit helped achieve currency adjusted sales growth of 6% in our Research business in the second quarter.
“We are very pleased with our continued strong growth in the emerging markets, as we posted a 20% organic sales growth in our focus markets of India, China and Brazil in the second quarter of 2011,” he continued. “In addition, we expanded our research product offering with the acquisition of Vetec Quimica Fina Ltda in Brazil. Vetec brings to Sigma-Aldrich more than 3,000 products and 30 years of expertise in the development, purification and packaging of high quality chemicals for laboratory and manufacturing applications, and adds to our ability to leverage the economies of producing and packaging products where our customers reside.
Sachdev concluded, "We have reaffirmed our organic sales growth expectation for 2011 in the mid-single digits. This organic growth, along with benefits from currency and acquisitions, are expected to drive overall reported sales growth to low double digits. We have also affirmed our diluted adjusted EPS outlook for 2011 of $3.60 to $3.75. As we integrate our new acquisitions, and continue to invest in new sales and profit growth initiatives, we remain committed to drive growth rates that outpace the underlying markets."
The company’s second quarter 2011 sales report also highlighted that worldwide sales of research products through the company's website as a percentage of total research sales were 50% for the second quarter of 2011. Also, sales in International markets (Asia Pacific and Latin America) continued to show strength with reported and organic growth of 24% and 12%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2011, and SAFC's booked orders for future delivery at June 30, 2011 reached record level at 4% above the June 30, 2010 level.
