Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX) said yesterday that it beat Wall Street’s forecast for its 4th-quarter and full-year earnings and revealed the sale of its $20 million MRI coils business to Philips Healthcare (NYSE:PHG).
Hologic swung to black ink for the fiscal 4th quarter ended Sept. 27, posting profits of $28.2 million, or 10¢ per share, on sales of $660.6 million. That compares with losses of -$1.11 billion during the same period last year and represents top-line growth of 6.2%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 43¢, a full 6¢ ahead of expectations.
"Our 4th quarter provides further evidence that our turnaround is strengthening and our outlook is improving," president & CEO Stephen MacMillan said in prepared remarks. "Although we began the year with declining performance, this quarter we achieved growth in all 4 franchises and transitioned to a company on a clear path to sustainable organic growth. While we still have work to do, we have put the pieces in place to drive accelerating growth and are much better positioned as we head into fiscal 2015."
For the full year, Hologic reported profits of $17.3 million, or 6¢ per share, on sales of $2.53 billion, for another swing to black on1.5% overall top-line growth. Adjusted EPS were $1.51, 5¢ ahead of The Street.
Hologic said it expects to log adjusted EPS of $1.50 to $1.54 on revenues of $2.54 billion to $2.57 billion during its fiscal 1st quarter. Full-year adjusted EPS are forecast to be 35¢ to 36¢ on sales of $625 million to $635 million, the Bedford, Mass.-based company said.
CFO Robert McMahon told analysts during a conference call that the MRI coils sale to Philips "is an example of a product line divestiture that will help us focus resources on more strategic and core areas of the company."
MacMillan said the company is trying not to get too far ahead of itself after a positive development at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which established new reimbursement codes for 3D breast tomosynthesis.
"It’d be really easy to be celebrating and getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. And I think from a guidance standpoint, we want to continue to be sensible and let each quarter continue to play out and let us put the points on the board," he said. "But don’t mistake that for lack of confidence in terms of where we’re headed, particularly with the reimbursement part. It gives us a lot of excitement for where that business ought to be going in the coming year."
