Medical devices maker Merit Medical (NSDQ:MMSI) posted a Wall Street-beating net income for its 3rd quarter, contributing to 9-month earnings higher than the company’s ever had before.
The Utah-based company Merit Medical Systems posted a 58.4% spike in earnings and a 6% increase in sales, with $7.2 million in net income, or 17¢ per diluted share, on sales of $95.9 million during the 3 months ended Sept. 28, 2012. That compared with a profit of $4.6 million, or 11¢ per share, on sales of $90.5 million during the same period last year. The sales were up 6%.
“We experienced our typical summer slowdown in the 3rd quarter, due to a lower number of procedures and the annual European summer holiday season,” chairman & CEO Fred Lampropoulos said in prepared remarks.
Merit beat analysts’ quarterly earnings estimate by a penny, but the 9-month report was the real stand-out. Year-to-date revenues amounted to $292.1 million, compared with $268.4 million during the same period last year. That’s a 9% increase and company record, according to an SEC filing.
Lampropoulos said the company continues to expect growth for the year to be within its previously expected range of 9% percent to 12%.
The company also announced that it reached an agreement in principle to acquire Medigroup, a Illinois-based manufacturer of peritoneal dialysis catheters.
"The company, based in Illinois, has a broad product line of catheters and implantation devices," Lampropoulos said. "Medigroup’s current annual sales are approximately $2 million, mostly in the United States, and we plan to offer the product line immediately on a worldwide basis. While growing in the United States, peritoneal dialysis is the procedure of choice over chronic catheters in many international markets. Medigroup is profitable, with 75% gross margins, and we believe the transaction will be immediately accretive for us."
