ICON reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Gross business wins in the first quarter were $580 million and cancellations in the quarter were $59 million, resulting in net business wins of $521 million.
In the first quarter net revenue grew 7.8% year on year to $432 million from $400.5 million in the same quarter last year. Income from operations increased by 12.7% to $85.7 million, or 19.8% of revenue, compared to $76 million or 19% for the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter increased by 13.4% to $71.4 million compared with $63 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share increased to $1.29 per share on a diluted basis, from $1.12 per share for the same quarter last year, an increase of 15.2%.
Cash generated from operating activities for the quarter was $159.3 million. Capital expenditure for the quarter was $8.3 million. Additionally, as part of ICON’s share buy-back program, $96 million was spent on share repurchases in quarter one, with a further $12 million to date in quarter two. As a result, at March 31, 2017, the company had net debt of $30 million, compared to net debt of $88 million at December 31, 2016 and net debt of $100 million at end of March 2016.
“I’m pleased with our results in quarter one which represent a very solid start to 2017. We achieved a net book to bill of 1.21, increased revenue by 8%, grew earnings per share by 15% year on year and reduced the concentration of our top customer by 500 basis points over the same period,” CEO Dr. Steve Cutler said. “We have now completed over half of our current share repurchase program and as a result we are increasing our earnings guidance by $0.06 to $5.06 - $5.26, and reconfirming our revenue in the range of $1.70 - $1.75 billion. Overall, ICON is well positioned to grow organically supplemented by our M&A strategy which will enable us to capitalize on the long term growth within the CRO market."