Boston Scientific announces drop in first-quarter net income

Boston Scientific has announced its results for the first quarter of the 2007 financial year. The company reported a drop in reported net income from $332 million (165.66 million pounds) in the first quarter of 2006 to $120 million in the first quarter of this year.

This income equates to a reported net income of $0.08 per share, compared to income of $0.40 per share for the first quarter of 2006.

Revenues for the quarter increased from $1.62 billion to $2.09 billion, with these results including the company’s cardiac surgery and cardiac rhythm management acquired last year as part of the firm’s purchase of Guidant.

Jim Tobin, president and chief executive officer of Boston Scientific, said: “While drug-eluting stent sales were lower than we hoped due to market dynamics, our performance within the market remained strong and we continue to expect market fundamentals to improve over time.”

He added that cardiac rhythm management sales exceeded the company’s expectations with double-digit growth for the second quarter running, while the resolution of deficiencies in the warning letter relating to this area had shown that the company was progressing in this field.

Forbes reports that Jeffries analyst Marck Richter had maintained a “buy” rating on shares in the company, citing a turn in the company’s cardiac defibrillator sales and the potential for improvement in the drug-eluting stent market.