Waters Corp. of Milford, which offers software and services for scientists worldwide, reported a 2-percent decrease in sales for the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011.
Sales totaled $420 million, down from $428 million. Meanwhile, earnings per share also fell, to 98 cents from $1.01 in the first quarter of last year.
Douglas A. Berthiaume, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said sales did not meet expectations due to weaker sales in some developing markets and a slower release of capital budgets from large pharmaceutical firms. Waters also said the effect of foreign currency translation reduced sales growth 2 percent.
Waters’ 2011 revenue was $1.85 billion.
