
Getinge (PINK:GETI B) reported sales growth for the 1st half of the year, but said profits were down by nearly a third.
The Swedish healthcare firm, which owns medical device company Maquet, posted profits of roughly $95.6 million, or 40¢ per share, on sales of $1.74 billion for the 6 months ended June 30.
That represents sales growth of 7.6% but a profit slide of 32.6%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings before interest, taxes and amortization were $268.1 million for the period, down 4.1% compared with H1 2012, according to a press release.
For the 2nd quarter, sales were up 7.2% to 897.3 million but adjusted EBITA fell 1.5% to 149.8 million, Getinge said.
"Order intake improved during the period and the potential for the Group to achieve an organic growth exceeding that of the preceding year has increased. Although the product and market mix were challenging during the quarter, when adjusted for the negative exchange-rate fluctuations and the recently introduced tax on medical-technical products in the US, operating profit improved to a satisfactory degree," according to the release.