Brad Nutter, the turnaround artist who helped pump new life into Haemonetics Corp. (NYSE:HAE) as CEO and later chairman of the board, said he will retire from the company’s board of directors effective November 1, 2010.
The move, announced on Monday in conjunction with the company’s first quarter earnings release, completes the transition to current CEO Brian Concannon, who moved into the corner office in April 2009.
Nutter, 58, first came to the Braintree, Mass.-based blood management business in April 2003 after a brief retirement from a career that included executive stints at Gambro Healthcare, Syncor International, Inc. and the American Hospital Supply Corp., which was acquired by Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX), according to the company.
During his six years at the helm, Nutter was widely credited with pumping new life into both the Haemonetics brand and its stock performance. Shares of the company’s stock were trading below $18 when he took the position in 2003, some 67 percent off its closing price on July 30 of $55 per share.
However, it was Nutter’s vision of transforming Haemonetics away from a medical device company, known for selling equipment and disposables to blood banks and hospitals, into a “total blood management company,” that will mark his legacy.
The vision, which launched in 2005, included an emphasis on aggressively acquiring companies that could boost Haemonetics’ product pipeline into things like software, electronic health records and other cutting edge technologies that would open up more business to existing blood bank customers. Since 2007 the company has acquired nine companies, including the $60 million Global Med Technologies buyout that closed this past April.
Officials said the company will continue to pursue Nutter’s vision in the future.
“It is impossible to list Brad’s accomplishments since he joined the company,” said CEO Brian Concannon, Nutter’s hand picked successor, in a conference call with investors. “He will be missed.”
Concannon added that the company will continue to seek out “bolt-on” acquisitions in the future as it is equipped with some $80 million in cash to do so.
Haemonetics officials also reported results from the company’s first quarter. For the three month period ended on July 3, the company posted net income of $17.9 million on $163 million in sales, compared to $18 million on $154 million in sales.
Officials blamed unfavorable currency exchange rates for dragging down the bottom line during the quarter.
The company’s plasma business, which sells disposables used by blood banks, led the way with $55.9 million, a 5 percent drop from the same period last year.
Despite the drop off in the company’s bread and butter plasma business, Haemonetics started to see some significant impact from the Global Med acquisition, as its software solutions division posted a 95 percent increase in sales from the comparable period last year.
The company also announced an agreement with Consorta Inc., a group purchasing organization to create a blood management business intelligence portal.
