Ireland-based medical device company Covidien (NYSE:COV) reported modest gains for the last 3 months, thanks to strong growth in U.S. sales that made up for flat revenues from the rest of the world.
Covidien saw a 9% bump in U.S. medical device sales to $952 million during the quarter ended June 29, with non-U.S. sales remaining flat at $1.11 billion.
Growth was partially hampered by turbulent economic conditions in Europe, which may have offset gains in emerging markets.
"Our results as reported were restrained by the strength of the U.S. dollar against most foreign currencies and by a slowdown in Europe, where economic conditions remain challenging," chairman, president & CEO José Almeida said in prepared remarks. "In emerging markets, sales growth was outstanding, reflecting the incremental investments we’ve made recently to expand our sales force and our marketing efforts in these fast-growing regions."
The company’s vascular and energy products saw strong growth of 14% and 10% during the quarter, where endomechanical instruments and airway & ventilation products saw modest gains of 1% each, oximetry & monitoring products remained flat and soft tissue repair devices declined 1%.
Covidien reported $3.01 billion in total sales during its 3rd quarter, a 2.8% bump from the $2.93 billion in revenues reporting for the same period last year.
Net profits sank 15.3% to $453 million, or 93¢ earned per diluted share, compared with $535 million earned, or $1.07 per share, during Q3 of 2011. Adjusted for one-time costs, Covidien’s earnings came to $1.07 per share, beating Wall Street’s expectations by a penny.
COV shares got a boost in trading today, rising 5.4% to $53.65 as of about 12:15 p.m.
