Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE) said its fiscal 2nd-quarter profits surged more than 150%, but lowered its sales outlook for the rest of fiscal 2014 on its expectation that blood transfusion rates will continue to slow down.
Braintree,Mass.-based Haemonetics posted profits of $16.5 million, or 32¢ per share, on sales of $235.8 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 28, for bottom-line growth of 152.8% on sales growth of 8.1%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 66¢, well ahead of the 57¢ forecast by analysts on Wall Street.
"This quarter’s revenue performance included a 12% increase in identified growth drivers representing over half our base revenue, offset by continued evidence of a weak U.S. market being driven by improved blood management practices," president & CEO Brian Concannon said in prepared remarks. "Patient blood management programs are being adopted by U.S. hospitals at a greatly accelerated pace. This rapid adoption and the downstream effect on blood collections demonstrate clearly the new environment in the U.S. blood center market, an environment characterized by intensifying competitive pressure that will demand change. This bodes well for our suite of blood management products and services which provide our customers with competitive advantages."
Haemonetics said it now expects sales growth o 5%-7%, down from prior guidance of 7%-10%. Adjusted EPS are slated to be between $2.30 and $2.40, in line with previous guidance.
HAE shares were down 5.2% to $38.62 apiece shortly after the market opened today.