BSX -- Swinging to Profit
Boston Scientific Swings
To $76 Million Profit
Full Story: online.wsj.com
BOSTON -- Boston Scientific Corp. on Wednesday said it swung to a $76 million third-quarter profit, a result that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates and follows a string of recent disappointments for the medical device maker after its $27 billion acquisition of Guidant Corp.
Boston Scientific said net income for the July-September period equaled 5 cents per share, compared to a loss of $269 million, or 33 cents a share, in last year's third quarter, when Boston Scientific recorded a $598 million expense for a legal settlement.
Sales rose from $1.51 billion in last year's third quarter to $2.03 billion, a 34% increase driven in part by $446 million in sales of defibrillator and pacemaker products that Boston Scientific acquired in the Guidant purchase, which closed in April.
However, sales of Boston Scientific's top-selling product, the Taxus drug-coated stent, fell 5% from $601 million in last year's third quarter to $572 million in the most recent period. Boston Scientific and New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson dominate the market for drug-coated stents, metal-mesh devices that prop open coronary arteries after artery-clearing surgery.
Excluding $77 million in one-time expenses largely related to the Guidant acquisition, Boston Scientific's per-share profit equaled 10 cents per share, narrowly beating the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected a profit of 9 cents. That estimate includes stock-option expenses but does not include one-time charges.
Boston Scientific's revenue of $2.026 billion also slightly exceeded the forecast of analysts, who expected revenue of $2.018 billion, on average.
The performance followed a $4.26 billion loss that Boston Scientific reported in this year's second quarter, a result that was largely attributed to more than $4.5 billion in costs from the Guidant acquisition.
Boston Scientific bought Guidant to acquire its lucrative defibrillator and pacemaker business, but the deal has helped drive the company's stock to a four-year low amid debt concerns. The downturn in the market for drug-coated stents is in part the result of recent research suggesting the devices may slightly increase the risk of blood clots compared with older bare-metal stents.
Shares of the Natick, Mass., company, which reported results after the close of regular trading, were up nearly 3% in after-hours trading to $15.55.
pcyhuang |
