Covidien (NYSE:COV) handily beat analysts’ expectations for its fiscal 4th-quarter and full-year results this morning, topping earnings-per-share forecasts with Q4 profit growth of 39%.
Covidien reported profits of $517 million, or $1.13 per share, on sales of $2.73 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 26, for bottom-line growth of 39.0% on sales growth of 6.8% compared with the same period last year. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were $1.15, well ahead of expectations on Wall Street set at $1.02.
Full-year profits were down 2.2% to $1.66 billion, or $3.65 per share, on sales of $10.66 billion, for top-line gains of 4.1% compared with fiscal 2013, Covidien said. Adjusted EPS were $4.15, again 13¢ ahead of The Street.
"We finished fiscal 2014 with an outstanding performance in the 4th quarter that greatly exceeded our expectations," chairman, president & CEO José Almeida said in prepared remarks. "Market share gains, strategic acquisitions, the successful launch of new products and productivity improvements all contributed to the achievement of double-digit earnings growth, both for the quarter and for the year."
Mansfield, Mass.-based Covidien said its 4th-quarter results included a $94 million write-down on the Stellarex drug-eluting balloon it’s selling to Spectranetics (NSDQ:SPNC) ahead of Covidien’s $43 billion merger with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).
