Henry Schein sees business growth in fourth quarter of 2009

Henry Schein has achieved record financial results in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to its latest fiscal report.

The health and dental care firm’s net sales in the October to December period totalled $1.8 billion (1.2 billion pounds), which represents a 13 per cent rise compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.

Its dental group sales played a key role in this improvement, with the declining sales of the first half of 2009 having been replaced with positive growth of 1.5 per cent in the most recent three-month period.

Stanley Bergman, chairman and chief executive officer of Henry Schein, expressed satisfaction with the performance of all of the firm’s main business units.

He added: “For the year, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, we posted solid gains in net sales of 5.7 per cent in local currencies.”

Last month, the company announced the appointment of Dr Bradley Sheares, former chief executive officer of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, as the newest member of its board of directors.