Boston Scientific yesterday posted a quarterly net profit near the low end of expectations as sales of its artery-clearing heart stents slowed, and it reassured investors that it was moving quickly to close the $27 billion (€22.5 billion) purchase of Guidant.
The medical device maker also said it believes it has stopped the sales slide of its top product, the Taxus drug-coated stent, which commands 54 per cent of the US market. The percentage may have edged up further, as Boston Scientific said that Taxus sales picked up momentum towards the end of the quarter.
Taxus lost ground last year to Johnson & Johnson's Cypher stent, setting the stage for a bidding war between the two fierce rivals for Guidant, a maker of heart rhythm devices such as implantable defibrillators and pacemakers, to jump-start sales growth.
"Even though the earnings were up . . . revenue was down primarily because of price competition on the stent," said Jerome Dodson, portfolio manager of the $300-million Parnassus Fund, which holds Boston Scientific shares.
Boston Scientific said fourth-quarter net income was $334 million, or 40 cents per share.
That compared with $297 million, or 35 cents a share, a year ago, when special charges trimmed net profits.
Net sales, which the company pre-announced last month, were $1.54 billion, down from $1.60 billion in the same period the year before.
