Varian Medical (NYSE:VAR) finished fiscal 2013 ahead of Wall Street’s estimates, but investors still shaved nearly 7% from its share price yesterday.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based medical device company posted profits of $438.2 million, or $3.98 per share, on sales of $2.9 billion for fiscal 2013. That’s a profit gain of 2.6% on sales growth of 4.8% compared with fiscal 2012. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were $4.04, ahead The Street’s $4.02 expectation.
But Varian missed the consensus forecast with its fiscal 4th quarter results, reporting profits of $117.3 million, or $1.08 per share, on sales of $769.9 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 27. That’s a profit slide of 2.4% on sales growth of 1.8% compared with the same period last year. Adjusted EPS were $1.09, 3 pennies under the $1.12 expectation on The Street.
Varian blamed slower sales growth on cancelled orders during the quarter.
“This was a quarter of mixed but promising results for Varian. Oncology systems grew gross orders on a global basis versus a strong year-ago comparison, despite ongoing weakness in the U.S. healthcare market. Our X-Ray products business delivered a record performance with robust growth in orders for its tubes and panels for filmless imaging. We are confident in the long-term growth prospects in all of our businesses,” president & CEO Dow Wilson said in prepared remarks.
Varian said it expects fiscal 2014 revenues to grow between 6% and 8%, with EPS of $4.22 to $4.34.First-quarter EPS are pegged at 87¢-91¢ on sales growth of 6% to 7%.
VAR shares closed down 6.6% at $73.30 yesterday.