Medtronic sees net earnings slide 1% in Q1

Medtronic ($MDT) Tuesday announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2012, during which it had net earnings of $821 million, a decrease of 1%. However, the results did meet analyst expectations, as the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal notes.

The company reported worldwide first-quarter revenue of $4.05 billion, an increase of 7%. And international sales accounted for 46% of Medtronic's worldwide revenue, according to a release. Spinal revenue remained flat at $825 million, with core spinal revenue, which includes core metal constructs, interspinous process decompression devices and balloon kyphoplasty products, coming in at $610 million, a decline of 5%.

The earnings report also heralded the debut of recently installed CEO Omar Ishrak, who detailed his plans for global growth. "[W]e will be focused on three key imperatives--improving execution, optimizing innovation and accelerating globalization," said Ishrak in a statement.  "As a company, we need to better adapt to our changing environment.  We will significantly change the way we prioritize products in our pipeline, placing the highest emphasis on our ability to demonstrate not just clinical value, but economic value at both the customer and societal level."

He also pointed out the quarter saw growth in many units. "The major exceptions were ICDs and spinal products, where we continued to face challenges," he added, promising to align "the management team around improving execution and optimizing sources of growth."

Medtronic has experienced a few setback aside from lower sales in those areas, including the recent report of adverse events related to its Infuse bone-growth product. "Medtronic's problems are well advertised and, in many ways, it depends on what management plans on doing to address them that will likely make the difference," said BMO Capital Markets analyst Joanne Wuensch, in an Aug. 17 note to investors, as quoted by Reuters.

And Rick Wise of Leerink Swann saw the results as "more stable and balanced...than many investors feared," according to a note quoted by the Pioneer Press.

- see the Medtronic release
- get the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal report
- read the Reuters report
- check out the Pioneer Press story