Sales of Smith & Nephew‘s (FTSE:SN, NYSE:SNN) U.S. hip implant business grew 6% during the 3rd quarter, helping the British orthopedic device maker to meet expectations despite a hit to its wound management business from the recall of its Renasys device.

Smith & Nephew reported profits of $102 million, or 11.4¢ per share, on sales of $1.15 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 27, for a bottom-line slide of -16.4% on sales growth of 11.8%.

Sales for Smith & Nephew’s advanced wound management division were down 1% on a constant-currency basis, fueled by an 8% decline in the U.S. on the recall of its Renasys negative pressure wound therapy device that offset 19% growth in emerging markets.

But U.S. hip revenues jumped 6%, "our strongest quarterly growth for more than 4 years, as we benefitted from strong demand for our unique Verilast hip products," the company said.

"In U.S reconstruction, our better performance continued with a 2nd quarter at or above market growth, led by standout growth in hips," CEO Olivier Bohuon said during a conference call today. "We still have more work to do in Europe and in advanced wound care in the U.S., but our track record has been established."

SNN shares were up 3.8% to $33.98 apiece as of about 11:45 a.m. on Wall Street. SN shares were up 4.1% to £1.06 each as of about 3:45 p.m. in The City.

Bohuon, mentioned as a possible successor to Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) CEO Chris Viehbacher, has been repositioning the British group to focus on faster growing therapy areas and emerging markets.

Asked if he’s interested in leading France’s largest pharmaceutical player, which yesterday sacked Viehbacher due to "poor relations" with the French pharma giant’s board, Bohuon declined to comment.

Smith & Nephew said its Syncera offering, the “no-frills” program for its orthopedics business announced in August, "is making good progress."

Material from Reuters was used in this report.