Third-quarter sales for Oridion Systems Ltd. (ORIDN) slipped 8.3 percent, but better times might be in the offing as sales of its capnography equipment rebounded to “normal levels” during the latter half of the quarter.
The Needham, Mass.-based company, which makes equipment to measure carbon dioxide levels in patients’ breath, posted sales of $11 million during the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with $12 million during the same period last year. Net income for the quarter surged to $1.8 million, compared with $51,000 during Q3 2008, on the absence of a $1.2 million financial expense during the third quarter of 2008.
Oridion said sales of its capnography equipment are beginning to recover from earlier problems with one of its distribution partners, Medtronic’s (MDT) Physio-Control Inc. subsidiary. The company logged virtually no sales through Physio-Control for the first six months of the year; by comparison, the agreement produced about $3.4 million in sales during the same period last year. In its second-quarter sales and earnings statement, Oridion said it hoped to see revenues through Physio-Control rebound in the third and fourth quarter of this year.
That hope appeared to be turning into a reality during the last stages of the third quarter, as “hardware sales have returned to normal levels again,” the company said. Oridion said it expects full-year sales to be down 7 percent to 8 percent for 2009.
Chairman and CEO Alan Adler said the company sees signs that the global economic recession is “bottoming and that recovery might be in sight.” That prompted a more positive forecast for 2010, during which the company expects to see “a full year of normal hardware supplies to all major OEM partners,” Adler said, adding that new partnerships inked the past two years should start bearing fruit next year.