Zoll's Q2 profits soar 105 percent

April 29, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Second-quarter profits for Zoll Medical Corp. soar 105 percent to $3.7 million.

Zoll Medical Corp. (NSDQ:ZOLL) posted strong second-quarter results, reporting a 15.5 percent increase in revenues and a 105 percent surge in Q2 profits.

The Billerica, Mass.-based resuscitation products provider reported revenues of $107.1 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with $92.7 million during the same period last year.

Net income rose to $3.7 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.8 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, during Q2 2009.

The results included a roughly $2.2 million revenue boost from positive foreign exchange rates and $4 million in sales from the temperature management business Zoll acquired from Alsius Corp. last year.

In North America, the company reported sales of $81 million, a 16 percent increase over Q2 2009. North American hospital sales jumped 41 percent to $24.7 million, including $4 million in sales to U.S. government and military customers. International sales rose 15 percent to $26.1 million.

CEO Richard Packer said the company is standing pat on its guidance for the year, remaining "cautiously optimistic" about the recovery of its core defibrillator business and predicting earnings per share in the mid-80 cents range.

In a separate announcement, Zoll said it established a direct sales force April 1 for its LifeVest wearable defibrillator in Germany, calling "the most significant market opportunity in Europe for the LifeVest." Sales of the device, which won clearance from the Food & Drug Administration in the U.S. in August 2009, are about $2 million annually in Germany. Sales were about $45 million in the U.S. last year, Packer said, adding that the company believes the U.S. market potential for the device is $2 billion a year over the long term.

"Although currently in its infancy, we see no reason the long-term international opportunity should not be at least as big," Packer said in prepared remarks.

Zoll also sells the LifeVest via distributors in the United Kingdom, Italy, France and the Netherlands. The company is working to win approval to sell the device in Japan.