Nordion Reports First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

Ottawa (ots/PRNewswire) -

Highlights:
    - Extended sales contract with major customer Lantheus Medical Imaging
      until 2013
    - Announced return of cash to shareholders through dividend and Normal
      Course Issuer Bid (NCIB)
    - Achieved cost savings following completion of strategic repositioning

Nordion reports in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified

Nordion Inc. , a leading provider of products and services to the
global health sciences market, announced today first quarter 2011
revenues from continuing operations of $70.0 million, up 54% from
$45.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Income from
continuing operations was $23.4 million ($0.35 earnings per share),
compared with a loss from continuing operations of $43.3 million
($0.36 loss per share) in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

"Nordion demonstrated solid financial results in the first
quarter," said Mr. Steve West, Chief Executive Officer, Nordion Inc.
"We saw a significant improvement in profitability as we realized
cost savings resulting from the completion of our strategic
repositioning, improved performance in our Medical Isotopes and
Targeted Therapies businesses, and results that were in line with the
Company's expectations in our Sterilization Technologies business."

Key Q1 2011 Events:
    - On November 1, 2010, the Company completed its name change from MDS
      Inc. to Nordion Inc.
    - On December 2, 2010, Nordion announced it had signed a non-binding
      letter of intent to divest its Belgian subsidiary, MDS Nordion S.A.,
      excluding the TheraSphere business.
    - On December 23, 2010, Nordion announced that the first sample of Mo-99
      had been shipped from The Open Joint Stock Company "Isotope" (Isotope),
      the authorized subsidiary of Rosatom State Corporation, to Nordion, for
      qualification testing.
    - On January 5, 2011, Nordion announced it had extended its Mo-99 supply
      contract with a major customer, Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., until
      December 31, 2013.
    - On January 20, 2011, Nordion announced the introduction of a quarterly
      dividend of $0.10 per share and an NCIB program.
    - On January 25, 2011, Nordion entered a five-year cobalt-60 (Co-60)
      supply agreement with Sterigenics International, extending its existing
      agreement with the contract sterilization and ionization company.
    Subsequent to the quarter:
    - On February 21, 2011, Nordion announced it signed a share purchase
      agreement with Best Medical to divest MDS Nordion S.A., the Company's
      Belgian operations.
    - As of March 9, 2011, Nordion had repurchased 2.8 million common shares
      at a cost of $32.7 million.

Medical Isotopes Update

As previously reported, the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
currently anticipates an approximately one-month long planned
shutdown of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor beginning
in mid-May 2011. While Nordion may be in a position to provide
limited quantities of supply that is licensed for distribution to
customers during the shutdown, the Company's current expectation is
that it will not have commercial quantities of Mo-99 from its
Russian partner, Isotope as back up supply during the NRU reactor
outage.

Nordion continues to work with Isotope to improve its supply chain
reliability by bringing on line this important back up supply of
Mo-99 for its customers. In addition, Nordion continues to work with
existing and potential new customers to increase the Company's market
share for Mo-99. However, Nordion may not gain new customer orders
until later in the year.

Returns to Shareholders

In January 2011, the Company announced a re-initiation of an NCIB,
which was authorized by the Toronto Stock Exchange, to purchase for
cancellation up to 5,677,108 Common shares. During the first quarter
of fiscal 2011, the Company repurchased 316,364 common shares for a
total cost of $3.5 million, which were cancelled subsequent to
January 31, 2011.

In January 2011, the Company also declared a quarterly dividend at
$0.10 per share, which will be paid on April 1, 2011 to the Company's
shareholders on record as of March 17, 2011. The Company's initial
quarterly dividend is expected to result in a $6.5 million payment to
shareholders.

First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results
    Financial Results - Consolidated
                                             Three months ended January 31
                                                2011                  2010
    Consolidated Results
    (thousands of U.S. dollars, except
    where noted)
    Revenues from continuing operations     $   69,982          $     45,474
    Operating income (loss) from
    continuing operations                   $   30,584          $   (43,646)
    Income (loss) from continuing
    operations                              $   23,427          $   (43,319)
                      - Basic earnings
                      (loss) per share from
                      continuing operations $     0.35          $     (0.36)
    Net income (loss)                       $   21,546          $  (142,876)
    Cash and cash equivalents               $  107,932          $    870,536
    Share buyback
                      - number of shares       316,364                     -
    Weighted average number of Common           67,133               120,137
    shares outstanding - basic (thousands
    of shares)
    - Consolidated revenues from continuing operations in the first quarter
      of fiscal 2011 were $70.0 million, up $24.5 million or 54%, compared
      with the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The increase was primarily due
      to increased revenues from Medical Isotopes as a result of the NRU
      reactor resuming operations in August 2010 and higher Targeted
      Therapies revenues primarily due to increased shipments of
      TheraSphere(R) and CardioGen-82TM products.
    - Gross margin was 50%, compared with 41% in the first quarter of the
      previous fiscal year due to the NRU reactor resuming operations.
    - Operating income from continuing operations in the first quarter of
      fiscal 2011 was $30.6 million, up from a loss of $43.6 million in the
      first quarter of fiscal 2010. Improved segment earnings from Medical
      Isotopes and Targeted Therapies and lower corporate selling, general
      and administrative expense contributed to the increase in operating
      income. A favourable $18.6 million change in the fair value of embedded
      derivatives primarily associated with the Company's Russian Mo-99
      supply agreement and a $33.7 million restructuring charge in the first
      quarter of fiscal 2010 accounted for the remainder of the increase.
    Financial Results - Segment
                                       Three months ended January 31
    (thousands of U.S. dollars)               Segment
                                               Gross                Gross
                                    2011      Margin       2010    Margin
    Revenues from continuing operations
    Medical Isotopes             $  29,495       52% $    7,880       13%
    Targeted Therapies              17,819       46%     14,752       41%
    Sterilization Technologies      22,668       49%     22,842       51%
    Consolidated Revenues from
    continuing operations           69,982       50%     45,474       41%
                                              Segment
                                             Operating            Operating
                                     2011     Margin       2010    Margin
    Segment earnings (loss)(a)
    Medical Isotopes             $  11,064       38% $   (2,393)     (30%)
    Targeted Therapies               3,494       20%      2,159       15%
    Sterilization Technologies       7,208       32%      8,007       35%
    Corporate and Other             (1,194)       -     (12,288)       -
    Consolidated Segment earnings
    from continuing operations   $  20,572       29% $   (4,515)     (10%)

(a) Segment earnings exclude Depreciation and Amortization, AECL
arbitration costs, change in fair value of embedded derivatives and
restructuring (recovery) charges.

Medical Isotopes

Medical Isotopes revenues of $29.5 million increased by $21.6
million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with the same
quarter in fiscal 2010, primarily due to a resumption of sales of
NRU-based isotopes following the restart of the NRU reactor in
August 2010. The positive impact of the NRU reactor-based isotope
revenue was partially offset by a 23% decrease in cyclotron isotopes
revenue due to a decline in Thallium-201 sales.

Targeted Therapies

Targeted Therapies revenues of $17.8 million increased by $3.1
million, or 21%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with
the same quarter in fiscal 2010, reflecting strong performance by
TheraSphere(R) and CardioGen-82(TM) products.

Sterilization Technologies

Sterilization Technologies revenues of $22.7 million decreased
$0.2 million or 1% in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared
with the same quarter in fiscal 2010, primarily due to a decrease in
shipment volumes.

Corporate and Other

Corporate and Other recorded a loss of $1.2 million in the first
quarter of fiscal 2011, down $11.1 million, compared with a loss of
$12.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The decrease was
primarily due to completion of the strategic repositioning in fiscal
2010.

Discontinued Operations

Nordion recorded a loss from discontinued operations, net of tax,
of $1.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with a
loss of $100.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The
decrease was primarily due to completion of the strategic
repositioning in fiscal 2010.

A full copy of Nordion's first quarter 2011 Management's
Discussion and Analysis and the financial statements and notes
(unaudited) can be downloaded at
http://www.nordion.com/investors/financial_results.asp.

Conference Call

Nordion will hold a conference call on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at
9:30 am ET to discuss its first quarter 2011 results. This call will
be webcast live at http://www.nordion.com, and will be available
after the call in archived format at
http://www.nordion.com/investors/webcasts_and_presentations.asp. To
participate, please dial 1-866-226-1793 (toll-free North America) or
1-416-340-2218 (International).

About Nordion Inc.

Nordion Inc. is a global specialty health science company that
provides market-leading products and services used for the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. We are a leading
provider of medical isotopes, targeted therapies and sterilization
technologies that benefit the lives of millions of people in more
than 60 countries around the world. Our products are used daily by
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical-device
manufacturers, hospitals, clinics and research laboratories. Nordion
has more than 600 highly skilled employees in four locations. Find
out more at www.nordion.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking
statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including
under applicable Canadian securities laws and the "safe harbour"
provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. This document contains forward-looking statements
including the strategy of the continuing businesses, as well as
statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. The words
"may", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "believe", "plan",
"anticipate", "estimate", "project", "expect", "intend", "indicate",
"forecast", "objective", "optimistic", and words and expressions of
similar import, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which give rise
to the possibility that predictions, forecasts, projections and other
forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution readers
not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of
important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially
from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations,
estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: management
of operational risks; our ability to secure a reliable supply of raw
materials, particularly cobalt and critical medical isotopes; the
effects of competition in the markets in which we operate; our
ability to manage long-term supply commitments; our reliance on one
customer for the majority of our sales of medical isotopes; our
ability to maintain regulatory approval for the manufacturing,
distribution and sale of our products; the strength of the global
economy, in particular the economies of Canada, the U.S., the
European Union, Asia, and the other countries in which we conduct
business; the stability of global equity markets; assets and
liabilities that we retained from the businesses sold; obligations
retained and projected adjustments thereto; successful implementation
of structural changes, including restructuring plans; our ability to
complete other strategic transactions and to execute them
successfully; our ability to negotiate future credit agreements,
which may or may not be on terms favorable to us; the impact of the
movement of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies,
particularly the Canadian dollar and the euro; changes in interest
rates in Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere; the timing and
technological advancement of new products introduced by us or by our
competitors; our ability to manage our research and development; the
impact of changes in laws, trade policies and regulations including
health care reform, and enforcement thereof; regulatory actions;
judicial judgments and legal proceedings, including legal proceedings
described in this document; our ability to maintain adequate
insurance; our ability to successfully realign our organization,
resources and processes; our ability to retain key personnel; our
ability to have continued and uninterrupted performance of our
information technology and financial systems; our ability to compete
effectively; the risk of environmental liabilities; new accounting
standards that impact the policies we use to report our financial
condition and results of operations; uncertainties associated with
critical accounting assumptions and estimates; the possible impact on
our businesses from third-party special interest groups; our ability
to negotiate and maintain collective-bargaining agreements for
certain of our employees; natural disasters; public health
emergencies and pandemics; international conflicts and other
developments including those relating to terrorism; other risk
factors described in section 5 of our AIF; and our success in
anticipating and managing these risks.

The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is
not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to
make decisions with respect to the Company, investors and others
should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other
uncertainties and potential events. We do not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made
from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required by law.

For further information: CONTACTS: INVESTORS: Ana
Raman +1-613-595-4580 investor.relations@nordion.com
MEDIA: Tamra Benjamin +1-613-592-3400 x. 1022
tamra.benjamin@nordion.com

Rückfragehinweis:
CONTACTS: INVESTORS: Ana Raman,
+1-613-595-4580,investor.relations@nordion.com; MEDIA: Tamra
Benjamin, +1-613-592-3400 x.1022, tamra.benjamin@nordion.com

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