Shares in Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) gained today in London and New York after the medical device giant posted strong first-half results and raised its revenue outlook for the rest of the year.
London-based Smith & Nephew posted profits of $309 million, or 35.2¢ per share, on sales of $2.49 billion for the six months ended June 29, for a bottom-line gain of 12.8% on sales growth of 1.8% compared with the first half of 2018.
Second-quarter sales grew 3.1% to $1.28 billion. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 45.8¢.
“The positive momentum across the business globally in the first half of 2019 has led us to upgrade our full-year revenue growth guidance,” CEO Namal Nawana said in prepared remarks. “Organic revenue growth has been solid across all three franchises, with strong performance in emerging markets and global sports medicine. At the same time, we expanded our margin. We are delivering on our commitments to accelerate revenue growth, improve profitability and importantly make investments that support the long-term success of Smith & Nephew.”
Smith & Nephew said it now expects to report underlying sales growth of 3.0% to 4.0%, up from 2.5% to 3.5% previously.
SNN shares, which closed down -1.0% yesterday at $44.89 in New York City, were up 2.7% to $46.12 each today in pre-market trading. In London the stock was flat at £18.62 per share in mid-day trading.
