Covidien books strong Q1

Covidien has reported increases in net income and sales among its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended Dec. 24, 2010, mainly due to prosperous acquisitions.

The net income for the 2011 fiscal first quarter was $427 million, compared with $412 million in the previous year’s first quarter.

First-quarter net sales of $2.77 billion increased 5 percent from the $2.64 billion reported a year ago. Foreign exchange rate movement had no impact on the quarterly sales growth rate, according to the Dublin-based company.

Covidien reported that the selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2011 were above those of the comparable quarter of the year before, “reflecting acquisition-related expenses and costs for product launches” in its pharmaceuticals unit. Also, research and development expenses in the 2011 first quarter climbed 21 percent over the 2010 first quarter.

For its medical devices unit, sales were $1.88 billion in the first quarter—11 percent above the $1.69 billion in the comparable quarter of last year. “Growth was driven by acquisitions, new products and increased volume, partially offset by divestitures," the company said. In the oximetry and monitoring product line, double-digit sales growth was primarily attributable to the Aspect Magnet Technologies and Somanetics acquisitions.

Also, its vascular sales climbed more than 80 percent, reflecting the addition of ev3 products and, to a lesser extent, growth for venous insufficiency and compression products.

For pharmaceuticals, sales were $470 million in the 2011 first quarter—down 8 percent from last year's first-quarter sales of $511 million. The decline primarily reflected the sale of the U.S. nuclear pharmacies business in the third quarter of 2010, together with lower sales in specialty pharmaceuticals, Covidien said. First-quarter sales of contrast products were slightly above those of a year ago, chiefly due to growth outside the U.S. Sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients in the quarter were below the year-before level, in part the result of decreased acetaminophen sales.

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