RADNOR, PA — Avantor Inc. (NYSE: AVTR) raised its full-year guidance after second-quarter results exceeded the company’s expectations, despite lower profit and a slight decline in organic sales as demand improved in its distribution business and cash generation remained strong.
The laboratory products and life sciences supplier reported second-quarter net sales of $1.69 billion, up 0.5% from a year earlier. Excluding foreign exchange effects, organic revenue declined 0.4%, while the company increased its full-year outlook for organic revenue growth and adjusted earnings per share.
Net income fell to $38.1 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, from $64.7 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings were $0.21 per diluted share, while adjusted EBITDA totaled $254.3 million, representing a 15.0% margin.
Operating cash flow reached $178.2 million during the quarter, and free cash flow totaled $142.8 million. Avantor used a portion of that cash to repay $112.1 million of debt as it continued efforts to strengthen its balance sheet.
The company’s VWR Distribution & Services segment returned to organic growth sooner than expected, with revenue increasing 2.7% to $1.24 billion, or 1.7% on an organic basis after adjusting for currency. Adjusted operating income for the segment declined to $126.4 million from $141.6 million a year earlier.
The Bioscience & Medtech Products segment generated $451.8 million in revenue, down 5.1% from the prior year, or 5.6% on an organic basis. Adjusted operating income declined to $117.6 million from $131.4 million.
“Our second quarter results exceeded our expectations across several key financial metrics, and we generated robust free cash flow, which we used to repay $112.1 million of debt, reinforcing our commitment to strengthen our balance sheet,” President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ligner stated.
Ligner also pointed to improving performance in the company’s VWR Distribution & Services business, noting it “returned to positive organic revenue growth more quickly than we anticipated,” while the Bioscience & Medtech Products segment performed near the upper end of internal expectations.
As of June 30, Avantor reported $3.72 billion in gross debt and $306.8 million in cash and cash equivalents. Adjusted net leverage stood at 3.3 times.
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