LivaNova (NSDQ:LIVN) handily topped the consensus forecast for its second-quarter results despite a huge bottom-line slide.
Formed by the $2.7 billion merger of Italy’s Sorin and Cyberonics in October 2015, in April the company closed the $190 million sale of its cardiac rhythm management business to China’s MicroPort Scientific (HK:00853) and paid $250 million to acquire TandemLife and its cardiopulmonary temporary support solutions. LivaNova also acquired ImThera and its implantable sleep apnea treatment for $225 million early this year.
LivaNova posted profits of $15.1 million, or 31¢ per share, on sales of $287.5 million for the three months ended June 30, for a -68.2% profit decline on sales growth of 12.4% compared with Q2 2017.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 96¢, four pennies ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $278.1 million.
“The second-quarter results reflect the initial success of our growth strategy as we focus on our cardiac surgery and neuromodulation portfolios. We saw an acceleration in our underlying sales growth and grew earnings while making significant investments in marketing, product development and clinical activities,” CEO Damien McDonald said in prepared remarks. “Neuromodulation grew double digits behind strong demand for our newest VNS therapy system, SenTiva, which launched in Europe in the second quarter. Cardiac surgery continues to experience strong growth, driven by sales of our S5 heart-lung machine and our Perceval sutureless aortic heart valve. Our differentiated pipeline continues to make progress and we feel confident in our growth outlook as we continue to deliver quality care to patients around the world.”
LivaNova reiterated its outlook for the rest of the year, saying it still expects to report adjusted EPS of $3.50 to $3.70 on constant-currency sales growth of 6% to 8%.
LIVN shares closed down a hair yesterday at $110.13 apiece, off by -0.1%.
