Clarient Reports 2009 Third Quarter; Nine Month Results

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Tue Nov 3, 2009 4:15pm EST

Case Volumes Increase 22%; New Visibility from Historical Collections Impacts
Current Period





ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq:
CLRT), a premier anatomic pathology and molecular testing services resource
for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today reported
financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30,
2009.  Results included a 13 percent increase in net revenues for the third
quarter of 2009 as compared to the third quarter of 2008.  Third quarter net
revenue was $21.4 million, compared to $19.0 million for the same period in
2008. Net revenue for this year's first nine months was $68.3 million, a 32
percent increase over the prior year period.

Third quarter net revenue was reduced by a change in estimate of expected
third-party payor reimbursements based upon their cash collection behavior
over the past fifteen months. In addition, this new information was used to
set the current period's third-party payor reimbursement rates, which also
reduced third quarter 2009 revenue. The analysis of patient payor behavior
patterns over the past fifteen months was used to determine the adequacy of
the allowance for bad debts, which was increased in the 2009 third quarter.

Ron Andrews, Clarient Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "Our
business in terms of customer growth, case volumes, tests per case, menu
expansion and market penetration continues to grow and indicates the potential
for even stronger quarters ahead for Clarient.

"At the beginning of 2009, management identified the reduction of our bad debt
and improvement of our billing and collections processes as a top priority.
The third quarter's financials include new information gathered after the
close of the quarter which allowed us to have a better understanding of payor
behavior patterns and will assist us in improving the future collectability of
our receivables. Having better information about our payors will allow us to
initiate action to engage them. For example, one of our goals will be to get
non-paying, non-contracted insurers under contract as rapidly as possible,"
Andrews said.  "That strategy should improve our non-contracted payor
collections and position us to make positive rate adjustments in future
periods. Going forward, we believe that the net annual revenue impact of the
pricing adjustments for these payors will be less than five percent, and the
subsequent reduction of bad debt expense over time should still allow us to
achieve our earnings per share goals in 2010." 

Case volume in the third quarter increased to approximately 35,000 cases, a 22
percent increase from the same period in 2008.  For the third quarter of 2009,
testing volume totaled approximately 240,000, up 15.5 percent from the same
period in 2008.  Clarient's customer base of oncology and pathology practices
in the U.S. increased by 35 new customers in the third quarter, taking the
Company's active customer base to well over 1,100.

"While the new information received in the third quarter resulted in a
recalibration of our revenue run rates, the addition of new customers, greater
volumes of testing from current clients, and recent product launches will
drive case and test volume growth in future quarters.  With the market
adoption of our new proprietary and non-proprietary tests still in its early
phases, and with our new sales team members just now hitting their stride, we
believe we have a solid foundation for continued growth for years to come,"
said Andrews.  

The Company's loss from continuing operations before income taxes for the
third quarter of 2009 was $3.2 million compared with an operating loss of $2.2
million for the same period of 2008.  For the nine months ended September 30,
2009, loss from continuing operations before income taxes was $4.9 million
compared to a loss from continuing operations before income taxes of $7.4
million for the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

Clarient's net loss for the third quarter 2009 was $3.2 million, or ($0.04)
per share applicable to common stockholders.  In the third quarter of 2008,
the Company reported a net loss of $2.2 million, or ($0.03) per share
applicable to common stockholders.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, the net loss was $3.4
million and $7.4 million, respectively.  Net loss per share applicable to
common stockholders for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008 was
($0.10) and ($0.10), respectively.  

Adjusted EBITDA (defined below) for the 2009 third quarter was a negative $1.6
million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 million in the third quarter of
2008.  For the 2009 nine-month period, adjusted EBITDA was $3.1 million,
compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2.6 million in the prior year period, an
increase of 19 percent.

Operating expenses were $14.7 million for the third quarter of 2009, compared
to $10.2 million in the same quarter of 2008.  For the first nine months of
2009, operating expenses totaled $40.5 million, compared to $29.0 million in
the year-earlier period.  The increase in operating expenses in the third
quarter of 2009 versus the comparable period in 2008 was largely related to
additional sales and marketing personnel costs and investment in our
information technology infrastructure.

At September 30, 2009, Clarient's cash and cash equivalents totaled $8.1
million compared with $1.8 million at December 31, 2008. 

Ray Land, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, "In the
long term we will greatly benefit from the changes we made this quarter.  The
new information will allow us to better estimate our expected reimbursement
rates, give us a clearer picture of receivables, and help to improve future
collections. And finally it will allow us to better forecast our future
revenues, bad debts, profits and cash flows."

Land continued, "Taking into account these new estimates, we are now revising
our revenue guidance for 2009 to $90 million to $94 million from the previous
range of $96 million to $101 million. Even at the low end of the range, this
will represent a year-over-year growth rate of greater than 22 percent from
our 2008 revenues of $73.7 million."

Andrews concluded, "Clarient's business model built on a balanced revenue
stream across multiple cancer types and technologies is well-positioned in the
new environment of health reform and cost containment. The opportunities for
Clarient to use its established commercial engine to bring new advanced tests
to market are numerous and growing daily, and the greater predictability we
now have will allow us to assertively pursue some exciting new opportunities
while maintaining a focus on profitability and cash flow."

Conference Call
Clarient will hold a conference call to discuss third quarter 2009 results. 
The call will include a period for questions and answers.

Date:  Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Time:  5:00 p.m. Eastern
Call-in Number: 1-888-549-7704 (domestic)  1-480-629-9857 (international)
Conference ID Number: 4177526
Webcast: www.clarientinc.com/investor
Web Replay:  For those unable to participate during the live broadcast, a
replay of the webcast  will be archived at www.clarientinc.com/investor
shortly after the call and will be available for one year.


About Clarient
Clarient combines innovative diagnostic technologies with world class
pathology expertise to assess and characterize cancer.  Clarient's mission is
to become the leader in cancer diagnostics by dedicating itself to
collaborative relationships with the healthcare community to translate cancer
discovery and research into better patient care.  Clarient's principal
customers include pathologists, oncologists, hospitals and biopharmaceutical
companies.  The rise of individualized medicine as the new direction in
oncology has created the need for a centralized resource providing leading
diagnostic technologies, such as flow cytometry and molecular testing. 
Clarient is that resource, having created a state-of-the-art commercial cancer
laboratory providing the most advanced oncology testing and diagnostic
services available both onsite and over the web.  Clarient is also developing
new, proprietary "companion" diagnostic markers for therapeutics in breast,
prostate, lung and colon cancers, and leukemia/lymphoma. www.clarientinc.com

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements herein regarding Clarient, Inc. contain forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainty. Future events and the Company's
actual results could differ materially from the results reflected in these
forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to: the Company's ability to continue to develop
and expand its diagnostic services business, the Company's ability to expand
and maintain a successful sales and marketing organization, the Company's
ability to maintain compliance with financial and other covenants under the
Company's credit facilities, limitations on the Company's ability to borrow
funds under its credit facilities based on the Company's qualified accounts
receivable and other liquidity factors, the Company's ability to obtain annual
renewals of or replacements for its credit facilities, the effects of a going
concern audit opinion on the Company's operations, the Company's ability to
successfully transition its billing function in-house from a thirdparty vendor
, the Company's ability to remediate the material weaknesses in the Company's
internal control over financial reporting, the continuation of favorable
third-party payor reimbursement for laboratory tests, the Company's ability to
obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all, unanticipated
expenses or liabilities or other adverse events affecting cash flow,
uncertainty of success in identifying and developing new diagnostic tests or
novel markers, the Company's ability to fund development of new diagnostic
tests and novel markers and the amount of resources the Company determines to
apply to novel marker development and commercialization, failure to obtain FDA
clearance or approval for particular applications, the Company's ability to
compete with other technologies and with emerging competitors in novel cancer
diagnostics and dependence on third parties for collaboration in developing
new tests, and risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports,
including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K and annual
reports on Form 10-K. Recent experience with respect to laboratory services,
revenues and results of operations may not be indicative of future results for
the reasons set forth above.

The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements or other information contained in this document.

Adjusted EBITDA Definition
"Adjusted EBITDA" is defined by the Company as income or loss from continuing
operations before (i) interest expense, (ii) tax expense, (iii) depreciation
and amortization expense and (iv) stock-based compensation expense.  Adjusted
EBITDA as defined by the Company may differ from non-GAAP measures used by
other companies and is not a measurement under GAAP.  Management believes that
using Adjusted EBITDA as a metric can enhance an overall understanding of the
Company's expected financial performance from ongoing operations, and Adjusted
EBITDA is used by management for that purpose.  We believe that Adjusted
EBITDA is frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties
in evaluating companies such as ours and that it provides a useful measure of
our financial performance since its use eliminates the effects of period to
period changes in costs associated with impairment of assets related to
capital investments, interest on our debt, capital lease obligations and
non-cash stock based compensation charges.  In addition, under our credit
facilities with Gemino Healthcare Finance LLC, we are required to maintain
minimum levels of Adjusted EBITDA.

There are limitations inherent in non-GAAP financial measures such as Adjusted
EBITDA in that they exclude a variety of charges and credits that are required
to be included in a GAAP presentation, and do not therefore present the full
measure of the Company's recorded costs against its revenue.  Management
compensates for these limitations in non-GAAP measures by also evaluating our
performance based on traditional GAAP financial measures.  Accordingly, in
analyzing our future financial performance, investors should consider these
non-GAAP results together with GAAP results, rather than as an alternative to
GAAP basis financial measures.

    Contact:
    Matt Clawson
    949.474.4300
    matt@allencaron.com



TABLES FOLLOW




                                Clarient, Inc.
               Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
              (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
                                 (Unaudited)

                                   Three Months Ended      Nine Months Ended
                                      September 30,           September 30,
                                    2009       2008(*)      2009       2008(*)

    Net revenue                   $21,425     $18,997     $68,347     $51,799
    Cost of services                9,796       8,596      28,675      24,465
                                    -----       -----      ------      ------
      Gross profit                 11,629      10,401      39,672      27,334
    Operating expenses:
      Sales and marketing           4,194       2,634      13,116       7,664
      General and administrative    6,030       3,377      17,074      13,289
      Bad debt                      4,214       4,107       9,483       7,734
      Research and development        282          98         805         321
                                      ---         ---         ---         ---

    Total operating expenses       14,720      10,216      40,478      29,008
                                   ------      ------      ------      ------
    Income (loss) from
     operations                    (3,091)        185        (806)     (1,674)
                                   ------         ---        ----      ------
    Interest expense, net             144       2,399       4,056       5,747
                                      ---       -----       -----       -----
    Loss from continuing
     operations before
     income taxes                  (3,235)     (2,214)     (4,862)     (7,421)
    Income tax benefit (expense)        -           -         599          (6)
    Income from discontinued
     operations, net of
     income taxes                       -           -         901           -
                                      ---         ---         ---         ---
      Net loss                     (3,235)     (2,214)     (3,362)     (7,427)

    Series A preferred stock
     beneficial conversion
     feature                            -           -      (4,290)          -
                                      ---         ---      ------         ---
    Net loss applicable to common
     stockholders                 $(3,235)    $(2,214)    $(7,652)    $(7,427)
                                  =======     =======     =======     =======
    Net income (loss) per share
     applicable to common
     stockholders- basic
     and diluted:
    Loss from continuing
     operations                    $(0.04)     $(0.03)     $(0.11)     $(0.10)
    Income from discontinued
     operations                         -           -        0.01           -
                                      ---         ---        ----         ---
    Net loss applicable to
     Common stockholders           $(0.04)     $(0.03)     $(0.10)     $(0.10)
                                   ======      ======      ======      ======
    Weighted-average number
     of common shares
     outstanding - basic
     and diluted:              77,582,829  75,842,169  77,256,895  74,307,956




                                 Clarient, Inc.
          Reconciliation of Loss from Continuing Operations to "Adjusted
                                      EBITDA"

                                 Three months ended       Nine months ended
                                    September 30,            September 30,
                                  2009      2008(*)       2009        2008(*)
                                  ----       ------       ----        ------
    Loss from Continuing
     Operations, before income
     taxes                     $(3,235)    $(2,214)    $(4,862)      $(7,421)
    Income tax expense
     (benefit)                       -           -        (599)            6
    Interest Expense, net          144       2,399       4,056         5,747
    Depreciation &
     Amortization                1,039         961       2,820         2,815
    Stock Compensation Expense     501         241       1,640         1,424
                                   ---         ---       -----         -----
    Adjusted EBITDA            $(1,551)     $1,387      $3,055        $2,571
                               =======      ======      ======        ======


    (*) Adjusted for certain reclassifications between cost of services and
    operating expenses as a result of an income statement classification error
    discovered during the fourth quarter of 2008.




                                Clarient, Inc.
                     Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
                                (in thousands)
                                 (Unaudited)

                                           September 30,        December 31,
                                               2009                2008
                                               ----                ----

    Cash and cash equivalents                 $8,149              $1,838
    Restricted cash                            2,825                   -
    Accounts receivable, net                  24,605              20,315
    Property and equipment, net               13,686              11,911
    Other assets                               2,051               1,445
                                               -----               -----

    Total assets                             $51,316             $35,509
                                             =======             =======

    Total liabilities                        $18,136             $40,249
    Temporary equity(**)                      42,876                   -
    Stockholders' deficit                     (9,696)             (4,740)
                                              ------              ------

    Total liabilities and
     stockholders' deficit                   $51,316             $35,509
                                             =======             =======


    (**) Represents 5,263,158 shares of Series A preferred stock reclassified
    to temporary equity from permanent equity, as required under applicable
    GAAP.






SOURCE  Clarient, Inc.

Matt Clawson, +1-949-474-4300, matt@allencaron.com, for Clarient, Inc.
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