Danaher Corp

NYSE:DHR

Earnings Call Transcript 2019-Q2

[Operator]

Good morning. My name is Laurie, and I’ll be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Danaher Corporation's Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Matt Gugino, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Gugino, you may begin your conference.

[Matt Gugino, Vice President of Investor Relations]

Thanks, Laurie. Good morning, everyone. And thanks for joining us on the call. With us today are Tom Joyce, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Matt McGrew, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

I’d like to point out that our earnings release, the slide presentation supplementing today’s call, and the reconciliations and other information required by SEC Regulation G relating to any non-GAAP financial measures provided during the call are all available on the Investors section of our website, www.danaher.com, under the heading Quarterly Earnings.

The audio portion of this call will be archived on the Investors section of our website later today under the heading Events & Presentations and will remain archived until our next quarterly call. A replay of this call will also be available until July 25, 2019.

During the presentation, we will describe certain of the more significant factors that impacted the year-over-year performance. The supplemental materials describe additional factors that impacted year-over-year performance. Unless otherwise noted, all references in these remarks and supplemental materials to company-specific financial metrics related to the second quarter of 2019, and all references to period-to-period increases or decreases in financial metrics are year-over-year. We may also describe certain products and devices, which have applications submitted and pending for certain regulatory approvals or are available only in certain markets.

During the call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding events or developments that we believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our SEC filings, and actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements that we make today. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date that they are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

With that, I’d like to turn the call over to Tom.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Thank you Matt, and good morning, everyone. We're very pleased for our strong second quarter performance. We delivered 5.5% core revenue growth, we continued investments in innovation and commercial initiatives contributing to share gains across many of our businesses. This marks the seventh straight quarter of 5% or better core growth which combined with solid operating margin expansion and strong free cash flow is a testament to our team’s focused execution and the power of the Danaher Business System.

We also continue to make progress on our anticipated acquisition of GE Biopharma and the planned IPO of our Dental business and both transactions remain on track relative to our previously communicated expectations. As we move into the second half of 2019 we’re excited about these important portfolio moods and the opportunities that lie ahead for Danaher.

So now let’s turn to our second quarter results. Sales grew 3.5% to $5.2 billion, with core revenue growth of 5.5%. Acquisitions increased revenues by 1%, while the impact of foreign currency translation decreased revenues by 3%. Geographically, high growth markets grew high single-digits led by double-digit growth in India and approximately 10% growth in China. We saw mid single-digit growth across the developed markets with both the U.S. and Western Europe growing in that range.

Gross margin for the first quarter was 55.8%, and operating profit margin was 17.1%, down 30 basis points year-over-year. However, core operating margin increased 15 basis points despite a meaningful foreign currency headwind from a stronger U.S. dollar year-on-year. We’ve generated $1 billion of free cash flow in the second quarter resulting in double digit growth year-on-year and a free cash flow to net income conversion ratio of 137%.

So now let's take a more detailed look at our second quarter results across the portfolio. In Life Sciences, reported revenue increased 6.5% with 7.5% core revenue growth. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of high single digit or better core revenue growth in the segment.

Reported operating profit margin was up 190 basis points to 20.1% with core operating margins increasing 170 basis points. This terrific margin performance was a result of the team's outstanding DBS driven execution across the segment. Beckman Life Sciences’ core revenue growth with a high single digit as performance was led by double-digit growth in both flow cytometry and particle counting and characterization.

The strength in particle counting was led by Vi-CELL product line which is primarily used analyze to cell viability in biopharmaceutical applications.

In addition Beckman closed the both on acquisition of Cytobank a software solution that pairs with our flow cytometry platform to help biopharma and clinical research customers analyze complex datasets more quickly and efficiently.

Core revenue at SCIEX grew at a mid-single digit rate. Good results across the pharmaceutical and applied end markets were partially offset by the continued impact of a tough comparison in our North American clinical business. We've made significant investments to improve the cadence of innovation at SCIEX since we acquired the business nearly 10 years ago.

The team highlighted several new products last month at ASMS including Echo MS a non-contact liquid handling solution with very high analytical throughput. This first-of-its-kind technology enables mass spectrometry’s rich data generation to be used in new applications within the drug development workflow helping customers in their pursuit a breakthrough disease treatments.

At Pall, high single-digit core revenue growth was driven by broad-based strength across most major geographies and end markets. Pall Industrial was up mid single digits with strong results in our aerospace and process and industrial businesses. This was partially offset by microelectronics which declined due to a tough prior year comparison and softer end markets.

Double-digit growth in Pall Life Sciences was led by our biotech business where we saw broad-based demand across product lines. An important highlight during the quarter with the U.S. FDA's approval of a pediatric gene therapy which is manufactured using Pall's iCELLis bioreactor. So Zolgensma is the first gene therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy or SMA in children under the age of 2. SMA is the number one genetic cause of death for infants and Pall is proud to contribute to the breakthrough treatment for this devastating disease.

The second quarter marked the one-year anniversary of our acquisition of IDT and we couldn't be happier with the progress the team has made so far. IDT delivered another quarter of double-digit core revenue growth driven by broad-based strength across all major product lines and geographies.

Moving now to Diagnostics, reported revenue was up 4.5% with core revenue growth of 7.5%. Reported operating margin was 17.5% with reported and core margins down 20 basis points. This decline is predominantly attributable to the impact of foreign currency headwinds related to the stronger U.S. dollar and tariff related costs.

At Beckman Diagnostics, mid-single-digit core revenue growth was driven by high growth markets, particularly China. By product line, immunoassay and automation led the way. Momentum from recent product launches is benefiting Beckman in a number of key product areas, enhancing the business' competitive position and accelerating its growth trajectory.

We are particularly encouraged by ongoing improvements in our hematology business where we continue to see strong global demand for our new DxH 900 high-volume analyzer.

Radiometer achieved high single digit core revenue growth with strength across the developed markets and China. Our blood gas and AQT product lines both performed well with key competitive wins contributing to market share gains.

Leica Biosystems’ core revenue was up mid-single digits. Good results across Advanced Staining and core histology were driven by demand for recently introduced products and we believe LBS continued to take share relative to the market.

Finally, at Cepheid core revenue is up more than 20% on continued momentum in North America and strong results across high growth markets. Cepheid embrace of DBS growth tools and processes like transformative marketing and funnel management has enabled the team to make meaningful progress penetrating new accounts were particular success at integrated delivery networks in North America.

Turning to our Dental segment, reported revenue declined 3%, and core revenue was down 50 basis points. Reported operating profit margin declined to 11.2% with core and reported margins down 310 basis points. This decline primarily reflects the impact of lower volume, foreign exchange rate movements and ongoing investment spend focused on new product development.

Low single digit declines in our traditional consumables and equipment business were partially offset by low single-digit core growth in our specialty businesses.

Geographically double-digit growth in China was more than offset by continued softness in Western Europe and Latin America. As part of our expansion into clear aligners our orthodontics business Ormco highlighted Spark at the American Association of orthodontists tradeshow in May.

Spark is made using TruGen a proprietary material with exceptional flexibility and clarity which provides a highly aesthetic and comfortable aligner capable of treating complex cases. Following a successful initial launch in Australia we are previewing Spark with a group of leading orthodontists in the U.S. as part of our targeted expansion and expect to build on this good early traction going forward.

We continue to make good progress towards the intended IPO of our Dental business. We’ve recently announced the new company's name Envista and have identified its key senior leaders and future operating structure. We remain on track to establish Envista as a separate publicly trading company in the second half of this year.

Moving to our Environmental and Applied Solutions segment. Reported revenue increased 2% and core revenue was up 4%. Reported operating margin increased 40 basis points to 23.4% with 45 basis points of core margin expansion.

In Product Identification, core revenue increased at a low single-digit rate. Videojet core revenue was up low single digits versus a high single digit prior year comparison. Results were led by growth in Western Europe and high-growth markets with solid underlying end market demand worldwide.

In our packaging business which includes Esko and X-Rite we were encouraged by better sequential performance and ongoing improvements in order trends. A few weeks ago Esko hosted more than 200 customers at the Esko World User Group Meeting in Nashville. The event brings together brand owners and suppliers from across the packaging workflow to showcase Esko's solutions and provides the unique forum for Esko to gather industry insight to guide impactful product innovation.

Finally, turning to Water Quality. Core revenue growth for the platform was up mid-single digits. At Trojan double digit core revenue growth was driven by strength across the developed markets in China. We saw solid demand in the municipal and industrial end markets and the team sustained its strong customer win rate with good commercial execution and new product differentiation.

ChemTreat delivered high single digit core revenue growth. The North American and Latin American markets continue to lead the way with strong results in food and beverage, commercial facilities, and oil and gas.

Lastly at Hach, core revenue grew in a low single-digit rate versus a double-digit prior year comparison. Good performance in North America and Western Europe benefited from demand across the municipal and industrial end markets.

This was partially offset by declines in China which was meaningfully last year as a result of government initiatives around surface water monitoring which generated significant demand for Hach's unique offering.

2019 marks Hach's 20th year as part of Danaher making it one of the longest tenured operating companies in our portfolio today and a tremendous example of how we grow businesses and build platforms at Danaher. Through a combination of organic execution and strategic M&A with a commitment of DBS and a foundation of continuous improvement Hach has evolved from a $130 million business in 1999 to what is now the cornerstone of our $2.5 billion Water Quality platform. During that time the platform has increased growth and operating profit margins by over 1500 basis points and completed more than 25 acquisitions to augment growth and adjacencies in water treatment byTrojan and ChemTreat.

This combination of organic and inorganic initiatives has helped drive consistent share gains and build sustainable long-term value with the platforms’ return on invested capital now in excess of 20%. You'll get to hear more about this success story at our upcoming water quality investor day in September and we hope that many of you will be able to join us for the event out at Hach's headquarters in Loveland, Colorado.

So to wrap up we feel good about the momentum we generated in the first half of 2019. The remainder of this year will be transformational for Danaher with the anticipated IPO of Envista and welcoming GE Biopharma to our Life Science platform. Both incredibly important portfolio moves that we expect to maximize value for our shareholders, customers and associates.

We believe the combination of our differentiated portfolio the Danaher team’s DBS driven execution and our commitment to build long-term value uniquely positions us for strong performance through 2019 and beyond. We are initiating third quarter adjusted diluted net EPS guidance between $1.12 and $1.15 which assumes core growth of approximately 4.5%. We now expect full year 2019 adjusted diluted net EPS to be in the range of $4.75 to $4.80.

[Matt Gugino, Vice President of Investor Relations]

Thanks Tom. That concludes our formal comments. Laurie we're now ready for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Tycho Peterson of JPMorgan.

[Tycho Peterson, JP Morgan]

Hey, thanks. Congrats on another solid quarter. Tom, on the more industrial focused market, it doesn't sound like you're flagging any sort of softness or issues there. I know you had the tougher videojet comp but you did mention I think better quarter-over-quarter in order to trends and packaging so can you just talk on the outlook for Pall Industrial Product ID packaging some of these more industrial focused markets given some of the macro data points?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure Tycho. Happy to, as I think you probably know well, we don't have a lot of truly industrial exposure left in the portfolio today. Call it 10% or less of the overall portfolio so admittedly we're perhaps not a great read but I'm happy to share with you some of the details behind some of the specific businesses that you asked about.

In terms of the trends we're seeing broadly defined across these businesses, in general they're still pretty solid. Let's call it low single digit, mid-single digit growth rates across these businesses that I'll tell you about in a little bit more detail. So maybe let's start with say a portion of Hach. So Hach has some industrial exposure that the industrial side of Hach was up mid-single digits in the quarter.

The order trends remain pretty solid across both the U.S. and Europe. Overall Hach was with low single digits in the second quarter but again that was against that big double-digit comp last year that impacted us in China. So again just look at the industrial side, pretty solid.

You mentioned Pall industrial again another portion that maybe worth a little bit of a read. Pall industrial up mid single-digits in the quarter. So pretty good performance. Where we saw a little bit of softness was certainly in microelectronics that was expected. We clearly have some difficult comps there two years of double digit growth and that market has clearly softened up based on lot that’s going on in terms of the trade dynamics and that's – that market is probably not likely to improve much in the second half of the year but so that's a little bit of a soft spot there, but at Pall industrial that was more than offset by our aerospace business and what we call FTAP which is fluid technologies and asset protection both aerospace and FTAP were up double digits in the quarter.

So again put that altogether mid single digit growth Pall Industrial, pretty solid VJ, you mentioned VJ again a little bit of exposure there at VJ. That was up again depending on the sub-segment low single digit to mid single digits, pretty small numbers at DJ but against your trends were pretty solid. And DJ's overall comp was although low single digit in the quarter, was again the high single digit prior year.

So net we keep a very close eye on what's going on in these sub-markets. We do think they can be indicative of maybe some broader trends but our order trends remain pretty steady and again we don't have a ton of exposure but happy to keep bringing those indicators forward for everybody so sort of broader sense of the macro.

[Tycho Peterson, JP Morgan]

That's helpful and maybe similar line of questions on China. I mean you had 10% growth double digit in Dental, you are under indexed to maybe food and four plus seven generic headwinds but as we think about the back half of the year and the China picture any reason that that couldn't continue at double digit levels for you guys.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Thanks. We feel very good about where we are in China. Obviously, that starts with the nature of our platform's positions there. When you think about Life Sciences diagnostics, Water Quality, the concerns around the environment, certainly even our Dental business which continues to be really well-positioned there and growing strongly, starting in the broad sense of the platform position we love where those businesses and how that platform is positioned for the secular growth drivers in China.

And despite the headlines which clearly indicates that there are some slowing in China we continue to see pretty good underlying conditions and I think just to go through a few specifics, diagnostics was very strong. We're talking mid-teens kind of growth there especially at Cepheid which is again off the small base but continued to grow nicely. Beckman is doing well there.

Another strong quarter of life sciences of high single digits and of course dental demand continuing a double-digit growth. So good performance there.

Product ID again a smaller position in China, but pretty solid mid-single digit growth, but as I mentioned this again is probably a couple of more puts and takes there in China than we might normally have seen. Water quality being one of those against this federal mandate that existed last year around service monitoring. So that's a little bit of an impact and again what I mentioned about micro down and even that [FTAP] business probably a touch lighter.

So a few little pockets there but again if we step back broadly I think we're in good shape there. As we look forward I think we'll continue to see mid-single digits to high single digit growth in Q3, but again that's only because of really this tougher comp where we had high teens, growth in Q3 of ‘18 largely driven by the water quality business.

So we don't really see a meaningful slowdown in our businesses at this point, but clearly given the headlines and the data that's been put out more recently, the ongoing trade tensions, we're watching these businesses very, very closely and we will continue to update as we see things.

[Tycho Peterson, JP Morgan]

Okay and then just one last clarification you got – guidance for Dental margins to be flat. I know they are down 300 basis points. How much of that was incremental investment and how should we think about Dental margins for 3Q and 4Q?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

We're clearly continuing to invest around new products in that business but the lower volumes, I think are meaningful here, Tycho. It’s certainly the investment is a function there and that we think it's important to set this business up effectively for the growth to come and you've seen us lift R&D spending by 100 basis points over the last couple of years and so that portion of what we think is really essential to the future growth trajectory of the business but the volume trend is really what we need to get those new product innovations to begin to turn along with some just tailwind in that market.

I think as we see that volume come back a bit that's going to be the incremental jump that we're going to need in terms of the OMX, so I think it's really a combination of those things that we'd be looking for certainly as we turn the corner into next year. I think as we look at the balance of this year we're going to continue to drive some of those investments. We're still going to have some challenges in terms of the overall growth in this market, but I think we remain very, very bullish about the prospects for this business to improve both the growth trajectory and the operating margins as we head into 2020 and beyond.

[Matt Gugino, Vice President of Investor Relations]

Yes, Tycho. It’s Matt. I mean some of the volume there too is on, if you think about specialty in the quarter was kind of low single digits that typically is some of our better margin business and so I think from a mixed perspective like Tom said that lower volume and kind of where it happened here in the quarter was a big piece it.

[Tycho Peterson, JP Morgan]

Okay. Thank you.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Thanks Tycho.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Ross Muken of Evercore ISI.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Good morning Ross.

[Ross Muken, Evercore]

Good morning guys. Congrats. So maybe I just want to go back to Diagnostics. I mean I felt like Cepheid probably north of 20 in the quarter. I mean, obviously, Q1 you had some tough flu comps. So I guess that that's a pretty remarkable growth where it feels even above sort of trailing 12-months levels. So I guess help us understand whether it's sort of a new product or some of the GeneXpert or just placements or new menu like or geographic, where is that upside sort of coming from and we sort of that the sort of key stages of the DBS flywheel sort of getting this business kind of churning at the rate it maybe should get too?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Thanks Ross. You termed the flywheel is one where we love a lot, and obviously from that standpoint turning the flywheel, I would say it's still early days at Cepheid and yet we've begun to turn that flywheel at a pretty good rate but there's still opportunities to continue to enhance the RPMs, if you will. So let me take it through a few of the details.

As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we were up north of 20% in the second quarter and some of that continues to come from our, what we call our HBDC market or High Burden Developing Country growth, but if you even backed out of the High Burden Developing Countries where we continue to see good growth, Cepheid continued to be up mid-teens in many of the core areas and core assays.

So that growth continues to be really broad-based. Infectious disease led the way, flu, RSV, Strep all strong, sexual health also very good. The flu season and normally by the time we get into July here, we're not usually talking about flu, but just to go back a second, it did last – it lingered a little bit longer into April, which probably on the margin helped growth a bit as well. So I think the combination of things, with very good performance in the core assays and the developed markets and then continued good performance in HBDC.

From a DBS perspective, a number of key things going on from an innovation and commercial execution perspective that are helping us to continue to drive share gains. We've netted over 300 new customers since acquisition, which is really meaningful in terms of not only the installed base that is built, but obviously the annuity stream that's associated with those captive consumables.

So that market leading installed base is now north of 20,000 instruments. We closed, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, I mentioned IDNs. We've closed a number of major health systems or IDNs and that is again continuing to drive the installed base with strong annuity streams. The anchor assays, like flu and Strep A are key to develop to driving those wins.

And I think over time we're going to, we're going to see some penetration in the physician office labs in an even deeper way with our CLIA-waived Xpress offerings and because I think those will be an important part of it. So overall, I think the team is in great shape. I was with the team at Cepheid in the early part of the year and they continue to perform exceptionally well. But I think it's still early days.

I think one way to think about the early days is in terms of geographic penetration. We're still coming off a relatively small base in China, but the molecular diagnostics opportunity in China is really strong. Today, China is still probably sub-5% of Cepheid and it's going to be significantly bigger than that as years go on.

We're working on getting beyond the initial test that we have approved in China, which are really around MTB and C. diff, HIV viral load, etc and we continue to build the sales force, it's up by 3X times where we started. And we got 4x or 5x the revenue. So again, small base, early days, but I think plenty of room to go.

[Ross Muken, Evercore]

And maybe just on the pharma side, I know you called out biotech at least relative to Pall, but more broadly, I guess, how would you kind of characterize small versus large molecule demand across the portfolio? And specifically to Tycho's point before in China, any sort of anecdotal things and when we were there, it seemed quite like biologics and bio-manufacturing was on absolute fire, so just any color would be helpful.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. I think in terms of small versus large, I think we continue to see solid growth from the segment of market that's more oriented toward small molecule. Well, Ross that that's sort of our legacy, if we looked at the SCIEX business as an example of that, continued solid performance across the small molecule business, large molecule, biologics is where the faster growth is, and we see that in our Pall numbers.

The Pall Life Science business up double-digits. The biotech part of that was really led by our single-use technologies and that's, those are – those single-use technologies are significantly oriented, it's not exclusively oriented to the biologic side of the house.

iCELLis, I mentioned iCELLis and the iCELLis bioreactor continues to be a big source of growth for us. We look at the areas of cell and gene therapy as huge opportunities. And again, it's still early days in those markets. So I'd say coming through at all, small molecule, solid, pretty consistent large molecule, continued strong growth.

You asked specifically about China. Thanks, thanks for your recent visit. That market is going quite well. But again, I think that's still a market that is in development. A lot of the history there began in the small molecule area, some of what's going on there around biosimilars is clearly a source of growth. But that market will continue to evolve over time.

There is a tremendous amount of government investments that's going on, as you also probably found when you were there. And so we're very bullish about how our business in Life Science, is not just on, by the way that the process technologies you might say around filtration and ultimately around chromatography.

But I think our tools business as well, whether we're talking about SCIEX and the evolution of the use of mass spectrometry in large molecules or the use of our other Life Science tools around biologic drug development and discovery. Those businesses are all tracking well.

[Ross Muken, Evercore]

Super, helpful. Thanks Tom.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

You bet Ross.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Derik De Bruin of Bank of America, Merrill Lynch.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Derik, good morning.

[Derik De Bruin, Bank of America]

Good morning. How you all doing?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Great. Thanks. Nice to hear from you.

[Derik De Bruin, Bank of America]

Thank you. Couple of questions so I guess the first one would be you mentioned in your comments about like a bio that you were seeing some shared gains there and given the joining of a couple of real competitors that market and just sort of curious about the additional color on what's driving the share gains and some dismay any information on that would be a good place to start?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Yeah, you bet, happy to. First of all, we have a terrific team on that business today. Melissa Aquino who I have worked with for a long time, actually came out of our Water Quality business, ran our DBS office prior to this role is leading that business today, and just doing a wonderful job, both in terms of driving new product execution as well as the commercial side of the house.

One of the things that I've been particularly impressed with is, I was with that business earlier this year, Derik, they've got the new product engines now working in that business.

We struggled a bit three, four, five years ago with getting products out of R&D on time. They were great products, they ultimately were targeted at the right market. We are now getting those out faster.

The rate of new product introduction is higher than it's ever been before and we're seeing the impact of that in the growth rates both in histology, the core microtome tissue processor, what you might think of is kind of the more [indiscernible] stuff is at the front end of anatomical pathology, as well as better growth rates and more product innovation around advanced staining.

We still have work to do around path imaging, you recall years ago, we did the acquisition of Aperio, we think there's tremendous opportunities around the evolution of digital pathology. We have – I think many of – much of the tool set, that it takes to move pathology imaging into the mainstream, if you will, of anatomical pathology, but we've got some product development that continues to need to be done.

And frankly, it's a market that's slow to adapt to those technologies, and we will need to be a little bit patient as those transitions take place within the community of pathologists. But a lot of good things going on there, but I would point primarily to product development engine, now running far more smoothly and efficiently.

[Derik De Bruin, Bank of America]

Great. And then just two related questions, one, can you just give us any update on sort of GE and timing on that whole process? And also just sort of a follow-up on Ross' question. When you think about small molecules and large molecules in cell and gene therapies, can you compare, sort of like the profitability for some of those markets.

The question I'm getting to is like as you move into providing products Zolgensma and just some of these other ones that are out there. I'm just curious is those are going to be a higher margin, higher products for you, more profitable products for you, going and then doing – genomic supplying columns or supplying resins and filters for the biologics business?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Let's take in there. But let me give it a shot. So let's have a key – first of all, we continue to be really impressed with the GE team, we mentioned that when we announced the deal, that we found that coming through due diligence. But as we normally do with large acquisitions, we put a transition team together, we acquired – the soon to be acquired business has a transition team.

And so, we continue to get some exposure to that team and we remain really impressed by them, it's a highly passionate and talented group with great industry experience. As you saw in Q1 from them the business is off to a great start in 2019. What we've heard a little bit is just sort of very anecdotally that things continue to track quite well. Their first quarter was – at core growth above where they've been in the last couple of years. So all indications are the business is in wonderful shape.

From a transaction standpoint, we issued the equity in Q1. Clearly, the debt financing ought to be helped by what we're seeing now in lower rates, assuming those kind of hold in both the U.S. and Europe and that's just in comparison to when we announced the deal. So overall, we feel very good about where we are. No change to our expectations.

We've had good and constructive dialog with the regulators and we're working with them like we would on any other deal. And so we're continuing to drive toward a fourth quarter close and feel good about that.

Relative to your second question, which was around small molecule versus large molecule cell and gene therapy, and profitability, and then you made specific reference to Zolgensma and the recent introduction of that breakthrough product by the division of Novartis, your question was really around profitability, I guess. First of all, going back to the core, we've always seen good profitability in our business around small molecule related applications and large molecule.

I would say no difference. Obviously as we continue to develop breakthrough new products associated with the evolution of biological drug discovery, development and processes, we continue to focus on enhancing gross margins, as we drive new product development and so obviously the value that we deliver to shareholders is directly associated back to the gross margin that we're able to achieve.

And so we continue to really keep the long horizon in mind, in terms of what the market needs are, and continue to drive products that will help to enhance gross margin, which they've done. And so we feel good about that.

Now, when it comes to cell and gene therapy, it's so early in the evolution of that market today, that it's hard to say anything that's particularly material or quantitative around overall profitability, even our iCELLis product line, which is doing exceptionally well. It's still early days and its market penetration as fast as that pickup has been and as unique of that product is in the market.

So more to come over time, but in general, our outlook is profitability looks very solid across this market. Zolgensma as you mentioned, you probably know from what's been publicized is a unique therapy, is a breakthrough, it's incredibly impactful to children under the age of two, and it's a very costly therapy. And that's a challenge in healthcare today is the cost of developing therapies and so on.

But that's a dynamic that where quite a number of steps removed from when it comes to drug pricing and the relationship with the payers. And so I think the continued evolution of the technologies associated with these breakthroughs is going to be imperative for our customers today and we're proud to be a part of it, but we certainly recognize the challenges that are associated with how costly these have become.

Just one last point, that many of you have probably heard me say that at Danaher, we have a, what we call our shared purpose and it's four simple words, helping realize life's potential, whether that's the potential for our associates or our customers, our shareholders.

Ultimately in many respect patients and there's probably no better example of how we help realize life's potential when it comes to healthcare than when a tool of ours can play a role in really impacting the quality of life for patients. So we're proud to be a part of that and there is more to come and it's still early days.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Doug Schenkel of Cowen.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Hey Dough.

[Doug Schenkel, Cowen]

Hey, good morning guys. I wanted to touch base to start on a few loose ends on Pall. How would you characterize win rates for Pall biotech, especially in the gene therapy space? I guess the second part is, I believe it was last quarter, you mentioned some building backlog for iCELLis, what's the status of that?

And I guess the third part is, I'm curious if customer anticipation of the GE Bio acquisition is having any impact on Pall demand, clearly you're doing well there and you have been for a while, but just wondering if there is any attribution to anticipation of the GE Bio deal as customers think about the possibilities associated with you having a broader portfolio? And whether or not that is impacting demand at all?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Thanks, Doug. So first of all on Pall around win rates in gene therapy, and you mentioned specifically iCELLis and that's a good place to start when it comes to gene therapy. iCELLis is a unique product, not to suggest that there is only one way to affect what iCELLis affects in terms of bioreactor, but its capabilities are particularly unique in the market and as a result of that the leaders in that market segment associated with the projection steps in gene therapy have chosen iCELLis at a pretty consistent rate.

And so, while I won't begin to quote right now a specific win rate percentage. I would tell you, it's just, it's very high and that has to do with the unique capabilities that iCELLis delivers in this market that is, it's difficult to do with the quality and the efficiency and the cost effectiveness that iCELLis allows for.

So we feel very good about that, but again it's still because the gene and cell therapy market is still nascent today. We can feel great about that but the materiality of that is something that will only build over time. It will build at a reasonably rapid rate, but again a nascent market today.

Your question specifically about the customer reaction or anticipation I guess as you framed it for the GE deal and impacting of Pall demand. I don't know today that we would point to anything specific in that regard, Doug.

I would tell you quick sort of an anecdote,I was in China a couple of months ago and was it was with a significant Pall customer. They happen to be a GE customer as well as most large customers that I might meet with either in China or any high-growth market or even in the U.S. or Europe.

But in this particular case, it was, there was an appreciation for the fact that the combination of those two businesses in terms of the type of service and support that that customer would expect, the fact that we become more meaningful to one another in a positive and constructive way was something that they feel very good about.

And so those are just anecdotes. I don't know if there's anything we would point to today that is a demand impact today that we could see into relative to the top line.

[Doug Schenkel, Cowen]

Thank you for that. Beckman diagnostic where you guys grew mid single digits for the third consecutive quarter. Do you think this is the new norm and specifically in North America there is clearly been some improvement there over the last couple of quarters. How did that flare in North America for this quarter for Beckman Dx?

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Doug. And we obviously as that's an important battleground we paid a good deal of attention to that. As you said third straight quarter of mid single-digit growth. We feel very good about that.

Some of the things that led the way are we continue to see very good growth in our immunoassay business in the core Central Lab. You'll recall that we had, we've developed and launched a new automation system the DxH system which has taken our competitive advantage in particularly high volume accounts to a new level.

And so we feel very good about that, but probably one of the key things that is a difference today is our hematology business. And for those you Doug and others who follow us for a number of years, that even going back to the acquisition of Beckman to begin with hematology with the headwind.

And so we made a significant amount of investment in new product development. We have transformed that product line. Those new products specifically around of both high and mid volume specifically in the high volume the DxH 900 as well as the early sepsis indicator capabilities that we have now launched are contributing together to turn the tide.

We continually look at retention and win rates and we have seen those increment upward consistently over the last, particularly over the last two years and those new products around automation and hematology have clearly been a big part of it. China continues to be a strong driver for us at north of 10%.

And so that's a plus as well. So the combination, still work to do, there is still minute gaps that we're working on that we – couple of critical ones that we will look to close more likely in 2020. And so I think we're continuing to see good performance. I think if you step back, just for one second and think about the impact this has had on the diagnostic platform.

If you think about the improvement in Beck Dx now at mid-single digits with the addition of Cepheid now with its terrific performance . We now have a diagnostic platform with core growth at 7.5% that we think will as the comps come out will stack up reasonably well and now a platform that's been solidly mid-single digits for eight straight quarters.

So I think Beckman is important certainly with the combination of Beckman with solid performance at Radiometer like the biosystems, and the high growth rate at Cepheid is really what solidified that stronger overall platform position and it's really the platform together.

When we look at clinical chemistry immunoassay, hematology, urinalysis, microbiology and across the other modalities in anatomical pathology in acute care, that really is the right comp against some pretty good competitors.

[Doug Schenkel, Cowen]

Okay. Sorry to try to sneak in one more and then I'll like fall back to the queue. [indiscernible] No, this is all me. I've got a handful of investors ask me for updates on timing of the debt financing and if there is any real change and I think by extension upside what you guys embedded into your original deal model for interest expense assumptions. Could you speak to timing and whether there is any change in how you're thinking about maybe upside associated with interest expense? Thank you.

[MattMcGrew]

Sure. Yeah, I mean from a timing perspective, I still think we've kind of talked about trying to be in the market a little bit closer to when we closed. I mean I think we're still talking about a Q4 close here. So I think that the timing will be a little bit closer to that, but as Tom kind of said, we talked about the GE update we issued the equity in Q1 and the debt financing here is clearly going to be held by the lower rates.

There is no question about that. I mean, we're probably not going to update any of our guidance that we kind of provide to you earlier. But I think the combination of the tailwinds that the businesses – the GE business is off to a pretty good start and where the rates are right now, like we will have some sort of benefit. But I think from a timing perspective, still sort of TBD but a little bit closer to when we bring the kind of when we get to close here.

[Doug Schenkel, Cowen]

Thanks again.

[Matt McGrew]

Yes.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Steve Beuchaw of Wolfe Research.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Good morning Steve.

[Steve Beuchaw, Wolfe Research]

Good morning. Thanks so much for the time here. Just a couple from me. I mean a couple of clarifications for Matt and then one on the commercial side for Tom. Matt, it sounds like the thinking for the core growth of the total company level is going higher relative to what we had before, is it fair to say that that, well, fair to say that first of all.

And second of all, is that a reflection of a fairly balanced view across Environmental, Applied Diagnostics, Life Sciences. Second clarification for Matt is, has anything meaningfully changed in terms of non-op or tax rate outlook for the full year that you would flag here? And then I have one for Tom.

[Matt McGrew]

Sure. So from guide perspective, I think for the full year, we had talked about at the beginning of the year, kind of, in December, we had talked about approximately 4% core for the whole year. Obviously, a pretty good start here with – in the first half and what we are – our guide here of approximately 4.5% in Q3. So I think from a full-year perspective, our thoughts now are that we are probably approximately 5% here for the full year from a core guide.

As far as – balance on that. Yeah, I think, where we've seen in the first half as you see Life Sciences and Diagnostics have been much better and EAS, I think EAS would be the one piece in the second half given the water comp and the comp at PID, they are both here in Q3, going to be comping kind of their toughest comps in the quarter.

But other than that, I suspect that it's been pretty balanced, I don't think we see a vast difference here in the first half or the second half, I think we just have had a little bit better start than we may have thought in December. As far as non-op stuff in tax, I don't think there's anything that I would call out, Steve, that would be different here in the second half.

[Steve Beuchaw, Wolfe Research]

Okay. Thanks, Matt. And then Tom, I wonder if you could reflect a little bit more on IDT and now that business in isolation. But what IDT in the broader life science portfolio is doing in terms of cross-selling opportunities. There's probably some synergy between IDT and Beck LS just to pick one example and just would be interested to hear about where you think you might be doing better in terms of share gains, not just as a function of the commercial investments, you've made.

But in terms of product synergies whether it's around IDT or may be Phenomenex, as we've been hearing more about Phenomenex on checks here of late. Thanks so much.

[Matt McGrew]

Sure, Steve. It probably will come across as somewhat surprising that despite what you might think across a broad set of analytical modalities that we provide in Life Sciences that there aren't a really significant number of cross-selling situations that we would point to that where there's real materiality.

And the reason for that and I'll come back to IDT in a second. But the reason for that is that our operating company-centric model that we have maintained for virtually the entirety of Danaher's history is one that puts an extremely high value on an individual operating company and its commercial organizations being uniquely focused on the specific needs of that customer set.

And we've seen a number of situations looking across different industries, where businesses have hoped for commercial synergies by bringing sales organizations together and creating heavier bags for their commercial organizations, thinking that customers actually were looking to buy a broader suite of instrumentation from the same sales team.

When the reality is that only serve to dilute the focus, the technical capability, the level of service and support. And so we've actually maintained much more focus within our individual operating companies on the unique needs of that end-market's customers and really I think continue to maintain that even, in particular with newly acquired businesses.

Going back to IDT, that approach to maintaining a unique focus of a commercial organization on their unique customers is particularly important for newly acquired businesses for us, because it's so easy to get the commercial organization confused by adding additional products to their bags from another operating company that ultimately dilutes that sales force's effectiveness, and so we look clearly for situations, where we can deliver higher value, I think you mentioned Phenomenex.

Phenomenex and SCIEX are clearly a closer opportunity, where the synergy between chromatography column obviously and the sample preparation associated with mass spectrometry is much more technically and workflow oriented synergistic and so that's probably a better example of where we see that.

And then in certain cases in high growth markets, I think I would point for example to our Dental business, where having a unified sales organization, bringing a consolidated set of products to a single end market, meaning the dental market in China, which has structured a little bit differently than the end markets in the developed countries.

That's really delivered value and that's actually one of the things that has helped drive that double-digit sales growth in China, but again those are unique situations that we only do that where there is clarity around how we bring real value to customers.

[Steve Beuchaw, Wolfe Research]

Well, that's great color. I really appreciate the time here this morning.

[Tom Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer]

Thanks Steve.

[Operator]

Thank you. I will now return the call to Matt Gugino for any additional or closing comments.

[Matt Gugino, Vice President of Investor Relations]

Thanks Laurie and thanks everyone for joining us this morning. We’re around all day for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you for participating in Danaher Corporations Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Results Conference Call. You may now disconnect.