Biomet Inc. has to be happy with its start during fiscal 2011, what with rising sales and narrowing net losses for the three months ended Aug. 31.
The Warsaw, Ind.-based orthopedic implant maker posted first-quarter sales of $640.7 million, up 1.7 percent compared with $630.1 million during the same period last year. Net losses were $17.8 million, down 21.9 percent compared with $22.8 million during Q1 2010.
Biomet fared better on its home turf than across the pond during the quarter. U.S. sales rose 5.0 percent to $419.1 million, but European sales slid 11 percent to $137.2 million. International sales (primarily Canada, South America, Mexico and the Pacific Rim, according to a press release), grew 11 percent to $84.4 million.
President and CEO Jeffrey Binder attributed a lower-than-expected constant-currency growth rate of 3 percent to "a deceleration of procedural growth in the market."
"We did report 7 percent U.S. sales growth for our orthopedic reconstructive device category and I’m very pleased to also report continued strong sales of sports medicine products with growth of 17 percent worldwide," Binder said in prepared remarks. "We continue to be very optimistic about the long-term growth potential of the markets in which we compete and, as our first quarter results show, we have increased our research and development investments to address unmet clinical needs. During the first quarter, we reported strong cash flow generation, which provides us with additional opportunities to further strengthen our growing business."