Medical device maker Boston Scientific said today quarterly net earnings rose 12 per cent despite slower sales of its heart stents to treat clogged arteries.
The company, which recently won a bidding war against larger rival Johnson & Johnson to buy Guidant, said fourth-quarter net income was $334 million, or 40 cents a share.
That compared with $297 million, or 35 cents a share, a year ago, when special charges trimmed net profit.
Excluding special charges, the company earned $340 million, or 41 cents a share, in the latest fourth quarter. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 42 cents a share, according to Reuters estimates.
Net sales, which the company preannounced last month, were $1.54 billion, down from $1.60 billion in the same period the year before.
The company is buying Guidant, which makes implantable defibrillators and pacemakers, in a bid to boost sales growth.
Worldwide coronary stent sales were $640 million in the fourth quarter, down from $730 million in the same period the year before. Worldwide sales of the company's leading product, the Taxus drug-eluting stent, fell to $606 million from $691 million.