Uroplasty Inc. (NYSE:UPI) posted third-quarter sales of $3.1 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2009, down 9.4 percent compared with $3.4 million during the same period last year. UPI slashed its net loss 57 percent to $387,000, compared with $894,000 during Q3 2009:
Press Release
Uroplasty Reports Results For Third Quarter FY2010
– Strong Macroplastique(R) Year-over-Year U.S. Sales Growth –
– Significant Publication & Presentation Schedule for Uroplasty Products –
– Conference Call to be Held Today at 3:30 pm Central Time –
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Uroplasty, Inc. (NYSE Amex: UPI), a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products to treat voiding dysfunctions, today reported financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009.
“We continue to successfully execute our strategy for the current fiscal year by growing U.S. Macroplastique sales and maximizing the potential for gaining a unique CPT code for Urgent PC® treatments,” said David Kaysen, President & CEO. ”We submitted our application in November to The American Medical Association (AMA) for a unique CPT code for percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation. The AMA will evaluate our application at their February 11-13 meeting. We are encouraged by the support we are receiving for our application from leading urologists and the American Urology Association. We are not permitted to discuss the results from the meeting as we are bound by a confidentiality agreement with the AMA. In October the new CPT codes will be published in the Federal Register by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
“Our fiscal third quarter sales illustrate the continued strong growth of Macroplastique in the U.S.,” continued Mr. Kaysen. ”Sales of our Macroplastique product in the U.S. through nine months of our current fiscal year have about doubled over the corresponding year-ago period. However, our European sales of Macroplastique continue to be impacted by a competitive product launch. Urgent PC sales in the U.S. remain challenged by the uncertain insurance reimbursement environment, but have remained relatively stable in recent quarters. At the same time, with our vigilant efforts to control expenses, we have maintained our December 31, 2009 cash position at about the same level as at September 30, 2009. We believe we have adequate liquidity to meet our needs for the next 12 months.”
Fiscal Third Quarter and Nine Month Results for the Periods Ended December 31, 2009
Net sales for the three months ended December 31, 2009 were $3.1 million versus $3.4 million for the year-ago quarter. Net sales for the nine months ended December 31, 2009 were $8.9 million versus $11.8 million for same period a year ago.
Net sales to customers in the U.S. during the three months ended December 31, 2009 totaled $1.5 million, as compared to net sales of $1.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2008. Sales of Urgent PC of $934,000 declined from $1.6 million in the year-ago quarter. The trend in decline of Urgent PC sales over corresponding year-ago periods began in the second half of fiscal 2009 due to reimbursement related issues. Sales of Urgent PC have stabilized at around $900,000 to $1 million per quarter in each of the last three quarters. Partially offsetting the decline in Urgent PC sales was an increase in sales of Macroplastique to $565,000 from $321,000 in the year-ago quarter. Sales of Macroplastique to customers in the U.S. for the first nine months of fiscal 2010 about doubled to $1.5 million from $762,000 for the first nine months of fiscal 2009. Sales of Macroplastique have increased over the year-ago periods because of increased sales and marketing focus.
Sales to customers outside of the U.S. for the three months ended December 31, 2009 were $1.6 million, compared to $1.4 million in the year-ago period. Excluding the translation impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, sales decreased by approximately 2%. Sales for the nine months ended December 31, 2009 were $4.4 million, a decrease of 19% from $5.5 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2008. Excluding the translation impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, sales decreased by approximately 15%. The sales decrease for the nine months is mainly attributed to increased competition for Macroplastique from a newly-introduced product. In addition, in fiscal year 2010 the Company discontinued sales in the United Kingdom of the I-Stop mid-urethral sling product, which accounted for sales of approximately $135,000 for the nine months ended December 31, 2008 and $191,000 in fiscal 2009.
Net loss for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009 was $387,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $894,000, or $0.06 per diluted share for the third quarter of last year. For the first nine months of fiscal 2010, the net loss was $2.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share as compared with a net loss for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 of $1.9 million, or $0.12 per diluted share.
At December 31, 2009, cash and cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $5.9 million compared with $5.8 million at September 30, 2009 and $7.8 million as of March 31, 2009.
“Looking ahead, we expect the current sales trends to continue for the remainder of fiscal 2010,” said Mr. Kaysen. ”U.S. sales of Macroplastique should continue to grow during the remainder of the fiscal year as we expect to benefit from our increased sales and marketing effort, while Urgent PC sales continue to stabilize. As we’ve stated in the past, we do not expect that we will be able to return to significant sales growth or return to the historic sales level of Urgent PC in the U.S. until a new listed CPT code is assigned and payers create coverage policies that provide adequate reimbursement.
“For the past five quarters we have implemented a comprehensive program designed to educate Medicare carriers and private payer medical directors about the clinical efficacy of Urgent PC. As a result, we remain well ahead of our planned publication and presentation schedule for Urgent PC. The data demonstrating sustained symptom improvement at one year from Phase 2 of the OrBIT study of Urgent PC was published in the January 2010 edition of The Journal of Urology®. The SUmiT study results are expected to be published in the April 2010 edition of The Journal of Urology, and, at the upcoming Society for Urodynamics and Female Urology annual meeting in late February, both Urgent PC and Macroplastique will be featured in several clinician presentations. We believe these publications and presentations, as well as others, will lead the medical directors to reaffirm or reinstate reimbursement, as well as aid us in our CPT code application. Our overall goal remains to obtain a unique CPT code that will encourage broader use of Urgent PC. We are confident that we are moving closer toward attaining that goal,” Mr. Kaysen concluded.