(Reuters) — Coloplast (CPH:COLO B) reported a 16% increase in 2nd-quarter core profit, slightly below expectations, pushing the medical device company’s share price down nearly 4%.
The maker of colostomy bags and wound dressings said operating profit before special items rose to 1.14 billion Danish crowns ($170 million) in January-March, slightly below a forecast of 1.17 billion crowns.
The company forecast organic sales growth of 8% to 9% at constant exchange rates and of 13% to 14% in Danish crowns for the full year, with a core profit margin of 34%.
Denmark’s 4th-largest listed company also said it would spend 953 million crowns on an interim dividend of 4.50 crowns per share.
But Coloplast shares tumbled 3.8% shortly after the results were published and closed at 510 crowns today, down 3.6%.
"Expectations for Coloplast results are high," Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen said. "When you then come out with an operating margin that’s just in line with the 2nd quarter last year, uncertainty begins about earnings going forward."
Coloplast’s forecast of a core profit margin of 34% in 2014-2015, was a percentage point higher than in 2013-2014 and in line with expectations. But the company said it had a margin of 33% in the 1st half, flat compared with the same period a year ago.
With shares at around 540.5 crowns each, investors are paying 48 times the expected earnings this year, making it one of the most highly-rated shares on the Copenhagen stock exchange.
($1 = 6.7145 Danish crowns)
