C.R. Bard Inc. (NYSE:BCR) posted first-quarter sales of $650.8 million, up 9.1 percent compared with $596.4 million during the same period last year.
Net income for the Murray Hill, N.J.-based medical device maker rose 7.5 percent to $120.9 million, or $1.24 per diluted share, compared with $112.5 million, or $1.10 per diluted share, during Q1 2009.
Bard said a $1.6 million pre-tax charge for “acquisition-related items” reduced its net income by $1.5 million during the quarter. A $9.8 million pre-tax restructuring charge during the first quarter of 2009 reduced that quarter’s profits by $6.5 million. Absent those charges, first-quarter 2010 adjusted net income was $122.4 million ($1.25 per diluted share), up 2.8 percent compared with $119 million ($1.17 per diluted share) in adjusted net income during Q1 2009.
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Chairman and CEO Timothy Ring said the gains came on the strength of Bard‘s research and development and business development efforts. Ring said in prepared remarks that the company hasn’t seen “any meaningful change in hospital market trends.” Capital spending by hospitals has been in a slump since the economy turned south in 2008.
In January, Bard settled with an unidentified insurance company, securing a commitment to cover possible claims resulting from ongoing litigation over one of its Davol Inc. subsidiary’s lines of hernia-repair products. In exchange for securing coverage up to a non-disclosed limit, Bard agreed to quit seeking payment of money it claimed the insurance company owed and will instead take a $25 million, pre-tax write-off from financial results for the fourth quarter of 2009. Davol began a recall of its Composix Kugel hernia patches in December 2005, after receiving reports the device broke apart inside several patients. Through late last year, more than 2,700 plaintiffs had filed suit in either federal or state courts pursuing product-liability claims for personal injuries.
Later that month, Bard closed its much-delayed acquisition of Spire Corp.’s (NSDQ:SPIR) hemodialysis catheter business, after Spire agreed to shave $2.5 million from its original asking price of $15 million. The merger was postponed several times before the final terms were struck, stipulating that Bard would pay $9.4 million in cash, $3 million in future milestone payments and $100,000 to a pair of Spire employees as compensation for non-compete contracts.
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The Massachusetts Medical Devices Journal is the online journal of the medical devices industry in the Commonwealth and New England, providing day-to-day coverage of the devices that save lives, the people behind them, and the burgeoning trends and developments within the industry.
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