Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) reported disappointing numbers for its medical device business during the company’s 1st quarter, citing volume softness that led to a 6% dip in profit.
Medical device revenues amounted to just under $2.4 billion during the 3 months ended Sept. 30, 2012, representing a 1% increase year-over-year.
"Our medical segment started the year more slowly than we planned, largely due to lighter than expected procedure volumes and some continued operational cleanup of our major systems and process transformation," Cardinal chairman and CEO George Barrett said in prepared remarks. "We continue to target double digit segment profit growth for our medical segment for fiscal year 2013."
Profits for the segment sank 6% to $64 million during the quarter, compared with $79 million during the same period last year.
"Last year’s acquisition of Futuremed and growth in our preferred products was partially offset by one fewer sales day and lower sales to existing customers due in part to lower-than-expected procedural volume in the hospital market," according to the company’s earnings report. "Segment profit declined 6% to $74 million primarily driven by the volume softness and the net impact of the information systems-related issues."
As a whole, Cardinal reported $271 million in profit, or 79¢ per diluted share, on $25.89 billion in sales during its 1st quarter. That’s a 3.4% decrease in revenue and 14.4% spike in earnings year-over-year, compared with $237 million, or 68¢ per diluted share, earned on $26.79 billion in profit in Q1 2011.
