ICON Q4 Earnings Rise

(RTTNews) - ICON plc (ICLR), a provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, Wednesday reported an increase in earnings for the fourth quarter as net revenue grew by 15 percent.

For the fourth quarter, earnings rose to $33.48 million or $0.53 per share, from $20.75 million or $0.34 per share a year earlier.

On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $0.45 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Gross revenue rose to $450.06 million from $406.35 million last year. Minus reimbursable expenses, revenue totaled $345.24 million, compared with $300.16 million a year earlier.

For the full-year 2013, earnings surged to $102.81 million, or $1.69 per share, from $55.42 million, or $0.92 per share, a year earlier. Yearly revenues grew to $1.784 billion from $1.504 billion last year.