Echoing the optimism at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Cynosure Inc., Aspect Medical Systems Inc. said its second-quarter results suggest signs of improvement ahead.
The Norwood, Mass.-based brain monitoring equipment maker also said it inked a licensing and distribution deal with LiDCO Group plc to create a new device using its BIS device and LiDCO’s rapid fluid and hemodynamic monitoring technology.
Aspect posted second-quarter sales of $24.9 million, down slightly from $25.2 million during the same period last year.
And although net income plummeted from $119 million during the 2008 second quarter to $307,000 during the three months ended July 4, operating margins improved to 2.5 percent, compared with -3.8 percent on a nearly million-dollar loss during Q2 2008.
The numbers are even better if the impact of stock-based compensation is excluded, which takes the 2009 quarter’s margin to 8.6 percent, compared with just less than 4 percent for the same period in 2008.
Sales of the sensors used with Aspect’s equipment, which is designed to help anesthesiologists monitor the effects of drugs on the brain during surgery, also rose, increasing 1 percent to $21.5 million. The number of customers using the system increased 18 percent to more that 60,600.
President and CEO Nassib Chamoun said the company sees signs that the recessionary impact on hospital procedure volumes and spending is easing, possibly auguring a modest sales bump during the fourth quarter.
Chamoun also said the company expects great things from the LiDCO deal and from a comparative effectiveness research agreement it recently signed with the Cleveland Clinic.
Under the terms of the agreement with the British hemodynamic monitoring equipment maker, which Chamoun called “the first important component of our business development strategy,” Aspect gains exclusive rights to sell the LiDCO rapid monitoring system in the U.S. and a license to integrate the LiDCO technology with its own in a new device.
Aspect also gets warrants to 8 percent of LiDCO’s outstanding shares as of July 28 at a 20 percent premium, making them worth roughly $3 million if the warrants are exercised.
Chamoun said products containing the LiDCO technology should start hitting the market by the end of the year.
Aspect said it expects sales between $24 million and $25 million during the third quarter and “a modest uptick” in sales for the fourth quarter.