St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) today reported surging profits for the 4th quarter and full-year 2014, despite foreign currency headwinds and flat U.S. sales for its bread-and-butter cardiac rhythm management business.
St. Jude posted profits of $245 million, or 84¢ per share, on sales of $1.44 billion for the 3 months ended Jan. 3, for profit growth of 99.2% on sales growth of 1.2% compared with Q4 2013. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.03, dead even with analysts’ expectations on Wall Street.
Full-year profits were $1.0 billion, or $3.46 per share, on sales of $5.62 billion, representing a bottom-line gain of 38.6% and sales growth of 2.2% compared with 2013. Adjusted EPS came in at $3.98 last year, missing The Street’s forecast by a penny.
Excluding the effects of the strong dollar, sales grew 5%, St. Jude Medical said. Sales for its CRM division were down 3% to $685 million during the 4th quarter (+1% on a constant-currency basis), and flat in the U.S. at $349 million, according to a press release. Sales of the CardioMEMS HF system St. Jude paid $455 million for last year were approximately $12 million, the company said.
"We’re delivering on our commitment to improving patient outcomes and reducing the economic burden of conditions such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation and chronic pain. Our product portfolio positions us well and provides competitive advantage for St. Jude Medical to accelerate sales growth and drive EPS leverage on a constant currency basis in 2015," chairman, president & CEO Daniel Starks said in prepared remarks.
St. Jude said it expects adjusted EPS of 90¢ to 92¢ during the 1st quarter on constant-currency sales growth of 2% to 4%. Full-year adjusted EPS are forecast for $3.95 to $4 even, excluding 22¢ worth of after-tax intangible amortization expenses, on constant-currency sales growth of 3% to 5%.
STJ shares were down 1.0% to $66.00 in pre-market trading this morning.