WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Medical devices maker Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) reported Thursday a decline in fourth-quarter profit, reflecting mainly lower sales from its heart devices. Adjusted earnings beat estimates, but revenues missed. The company also issued full-year 2012 adjusted earnings guidance, which is above analysts' current expectations. In the fourth quarter, the company's net income declined to $107 million or $0.07 per share from $236 million or $0.15 per share a year ago. The recent quarter results included acquisition and divestiture-related net credits, litigation and restructuring-related charges, discrete tax items and amortization expense totaling $90 million or $0.06 per share. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share for the quarter was $0.13 compared to $0.20 per share in the prior-year quarter. On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.08 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Net sales for the quarter dropped 8 percent to $1.85 billion from $2 billion reported last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.91 billion for the quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign currency and sales from divested businesses, sales declined 5 percent from last year. Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Rhythm Management sales declined 7 percent and 15 percent, respectively, reflecting lower sales of its heart devices such as drug-eluting stents and pacemakers. For the full year, the company posted a net income of $441 million or $0.29 per share, compared to a loss of $1.065 billion or $0.70 per share in the preceding year. Annual sales declined to $7.62 billion from $7.81 billion a year earlier. Looking ahead to the first quarter, the company expects GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $0.02 to $0.05. Adjusted earnings are expected to be in the range of $0.11 to $0.14 per share. The company expects first-quarter sales between $1.825 billion and $1.900 billion. Analysts expect the company to earn $0.11 per share on revenues of $1.90 billion for the first quarter. For the full-year 2012, the company anticipates GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.38 and adjusted earnings to be between $0.60 and $0.70 per share. Full-year sales are estimated to be in a range of $7.3 billion to $7.7 billion. Analysts expect the company to earn $0.46 per share, on revenues of $7.65 billion in 2012. Hank Kucheman, chief executive officer of the company said, 'Although we recognize the ongoing challenges of today's environment, we continue to make progress with new product introductions, cost-saving initiatives and a strengthened presence in emerging markets.' BSX closed Wednesday's regular trading at $6.09 on the NYSE. In the pre-market activity, the shares are down 3.45 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2012 AFX News
