NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Feb 27, 2015) - Daxor Corporation (NYSE MKT: DXR), an investment company with medical instrumentation and biotechnology operations, will be filing a Form N-CSR today disclosing its schedule of portfolio holdings as of December 31, 2014. Copies of the form will be mailed to the Company's shareholders and are available on the Company's website at http://www.daxor.com/pdfs/daxor-form-n-csr-12312014.pdf.
Daxor reports to the public as an investment company. However, our primary mission has always been to promote our unique medical products and technology. We remain dedicated to increasing the public awareness of the benefits of storing one's own blood in case the need for a transfusion arises and for making blood volume measurement a standard of care.
The Company has made a decision to focus primarily on its operations and reduce its dependence on income from short term stock market investing. The Company has supplemented its income from both long and short term stock market investing and has had a long term track record of successful investing. However, over the past four years this activity has been unsuccessful and the Company has incurred significant losses. The Company is, therefore, in the process of markedly reducing its option trading. At some point in the near future, it may eliminate such option trading entirely.
Daxor is currently designated as an investment company but our primary focus has always been on our operational objectives. The Company anticipates that as income from operations increases that it will, at a future time, request a change back to its previous designation as an operating company and report accordingly. Michael Feldschuh has recently been appointed as Executive Vice President of Daxor and he is reviewing all parts of our operations. We believe the Company is now at a turning point where the many published research articles on the benefits of the Blood Volume Analyzer will lead to greater adoption of the Company's technology. Michael Feldschuh will be leading this effort.
The Company had 68 BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzers placed at client sites on December 31, 2014 versus 67 at December 31, 2013. The Company sold 2,241 Volumex Kits for the year ended December 31, 2014 versus 2,597 for the year ended December 31, 2013. Revenue from Kit Sales was $738,999 in 2014 versus $843,617 in 2013 for a decrease of $(104,618) or (12.4%). The Company did not sell any BVA-100 Volume Analyzers in 2014 and sold one in 2013 for $65,000.
Septicemia is caused by bacteria in circulation and is a common occurrence in intensive care units. Death rates vary from 20% to 40% depending on the institution. Dr. Mihae Yu is one of the senior authors of an article published in Shock (A Prospective Randomized Trial Using Blood Volume Analysis in Addition to Pulmonary Artery Catheter, Compared with Pulmonary Artery Catheter Alone, to Guide Shock Resuscitation in Critically Ill Surgical Patients, Shock, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 220-228, 2011), which showed the different survival rates in 100 patients (a death rate of 8% for the patients whose treatment was guided by blood volume measurement versus a 24% death rate in a control group whose treatment was guided by the usual clinical laboratory parameters without blood volume measurement).
The most widely read textbook in Critical Care Medicine is "The ICU Book (Intensive Care Unit)" by Paul Marino, M.D., PhD, FCCM. The fourth edition of this book was released in October of 2013. Dr. Marino is on the staff of Cornell University and is an internationally recognized authority on Critical Care Medicine.
In a chapter on Hypovolemia (Low Blood Volume) in the fourth edition of "The ICU Book," Dr. Marino wrote the following: "Blood Volume measurements have traditionally required too much time to perform to be clinically useful in an ICU setting, but this has changed with the introduction of a semi-automated Blood Volume Analyzer (Daxor Corporation, New York, NY) that provides blood volume measurements in less than an hour. When blood volume measurements were made available for patient care, 53% of the measurements led to a change in fluid management, and this was associated with a significant decrease in mortality rate (from 24% to 8%). He also cited the article published in Shock which is co-authored by Dr. Mihae Yu.
Among the concluding statements Dr. Marino makes in this chapter are the following: "The clinical evaluation of intravascular volume, including the use of central venous pressure (CVP) measurements, is so flawed that it has been called a comedy of errors" and direct measurements of blood volume are clinically feasible, but are underutilized."
This is important recognition from a physician who is considered one of the top authorities on Intensive Care Medicine. We will are making every effort to publicize this information as part of our ongoing efforts to educate the public about the importance of blood volume measurement.
At December 31, 2014, the Company had net assets of $24,580,735 or $6.16 per share versus net assets of $26,370,847 or $6.45 per share at December 31, 2013. The Company's Return on Average Net Assets for the year was (4.59%).Net assets decreased by $(1,790,112) during the year ended December 31, 2014. This was mostly due to a realized loss of $(9,832,297) from the short sales of equities.
The Company's net assets consist largely of the value of the securities portfolio and the net book value of certain property and equipment reduced by the remaining mortgage balance. The property and equipment consist of land, buildings and laboratory equipment located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. During the ten year period ended December 31, 2014, the Company spent approximately $25,000,000 on research and development. These costs were expensed and are not reflected in the Company's net asset value.
The Company paid a dividend of $0.03 per share on December 26, 2014. Management has a policy of paying dividends when funds are available.
The Company's investment policy is to maintain a minimum of 80% of its portfolio in electric utilities. At December 31, 2014, investments in electric utilities made up 93.1% of the value of the Company's portfolio. Dividends from the Company's investments in electric utilities made up 91.7% of the Company's total dividends received for the year ended December 31, 2014. The Company is receiving dividend income on 48 of the 58 common and preferred stocks in its investment portfolio at December 31, 2014.
The portfolio turnover rate for the year ended December 31, 2014 was 3.35% which indicates an average holding period in excess of twenty years for our investment portfolio. The investment approach of management is to buy stocks which it is prepared to hold for the long term. There are stocks in our portfolio which we have held in excess of 25 years.
At December 31, 2014, net unrealized gain of the Company's securities portfolio totaled $25,669,442. This was comprised of unrealized gains of $26,004,525 and unrealized losses of $(335,083).
The Company has a program in place which allows for the purchase of up to 250,000 shares of Daxor Corporation stock each year. During the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company repurchased 98,672 shares at a total cost of $695,890. For the period of January 1, 2015 through February 25, 2015, the Company repurchased 30,482 shares of stock at a total cost of $187,330. The stock is purchased as funds are available and if the stock is trading at a price which management feels is undervalued. This is usually when the market capitalization of the Company is less than the net value of its assets.
The Company's results from investments for the year ended December 31, 2014 are disclosed in greater detail in the Form N-CSR which will be filed today.