Olympus Medical Systems

$2.6 Billion ($8.8B total)

KEY EXECUTIVES:

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, Representative Director and President 
Haruhito Morishima, President, Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
F. Mark Gumz, President, COO and CEO, Olympus Corp. of the
   Americas
Rick Harbuck, Group VP, Olympus Corp. of the Americas

NO. OF EMPLOYEES:

35,700
   

GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS:

Tokyo, Japan

Olympus makes more than the digital camera you took on this summer’s vacation. It also develops a wide range of endoscopes, imaging and surgical products, which helped significantly to boost the company’s overall revenue for fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2007).

The year also marked the company’s 13th consecutive year of sales growth. Total sales increased 8% (in yen) to reach $8.8 billion. Even more impressive is operating income that jumped 57.9% ($823 million), while net income surged 67.3% ($398 million). Company management attributed the growth to double-digit expansion in the Medical Systems and Life Sciences businesses, in addition to increased domestic and overseas sales of new digital cameras, endoscopes and therapeutic products. Sales results also were helped by the year-on-year depreciation of the yen against the dollar and the euro. 

For the Medical Systems division (which manufactures medical endoscopes, surgical endoscopes, endotherapy products and ultrasound endoscopes), growth was equally impressive, up 17% compared with fiscal 2006 ($2.6 billion). Operating income climbed 14.6% to $732 million. Sales of gastrointestinal endoscopes also rose—22.2%—to $1.78 billion. The company’s line of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) products contributed to a healthier Medical Systems bottom line. MIS product sales increased 7.2% to $816 million, in large part due to sales of a new disposable electrosurgical knife in Japan. International sales of Olympus’ new high-definition videoscopes for the abdomen and chest were “robust,” according to Olympus. Global expansion of markets for endosurgery and endotherapy products also contributed to the sales increase.

A total of 34% of sales came from North America and 31.9% from Europe (both markets grew by double digits), while Japan (22.9% of sales) grew modestly.

“Developing MIS products designed to support early detection and treatment of cancer is a leading priority for the company,” said Tsuyoshi “Tom” Kikukawa, president of Olympus. “We’re also pushing toward increased sales in Asian countries, where the company is expecting growth.”

Olympus already has wrapped up its 2008 fiscal year, and the company’s growth hasn’t slowed any. Net sales increased 6.3% to $9.87 billion. Operating income rose 14.1% to $986 million, while net income increased 21.3% to $507.3 million. Total medical sales increased 13.3% to $3.1 billion. Surgical endoscopes and endotherapy products increased 18.4% to $1 billion. Sales of endoscopes rose 11% to $2.1 billion. The division’s operating income was up, thanks to the sales expansion of medical endoscopes and favorable performance of surgical treatment devices in markets outside of Japan. Helping to fuel an ever-increasing new product pipeline, R&D expenditures for the year jumped 18.7% to $576.9 million.

In management news, F. Mark Gumz, president and chief operating officer of the company’s US operations since January 2000, added CEO to his title in April 2008. At the same time, the company was renamed Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA) from Olympus USA. The move was made to “better reflect its regional geographic responsibility for North and South American Olympus operations,” according to a company press release.

Gumz is the highest-ranking official in the Americas and the first American to be appointed CEO of any Olympus entity.  He will retain his positions as president of OCA, Olympus Canada Inc., Olympus Imaging America Inc. and Olympus Medical Equipment Services America Inc.  He also will continue to oversee the operations of Olympus Latin America Inc. He began working for the company in 1977.

So far, for 2008, the company has rolled out some notable products, including the Endo Capsule for the visualization of the small-bowel mucosa—the device received FDA 510(k) clearance in September. It is a small, ingestible pill-like device that allows physicians to better diagnose and treat small-bowel abnormalities. Patients carry Endo Capsule’s data recorder in a lightweight harness that records images but allows for daily activity. Also for fiscal 2008, the company released its Single Balloon Enteroscope system (SBE), another device for the examination and treatment of the small bowel. The SBE reduces average examination time compared with other small bowel enteroscopy procedures, employs the Olympus Evis Exera II platform and offers high-resolution images and improved insertion ability, the company said. The SBE can be used with a broad range of EndoTherapy devices used in tissue sampling, hemostasis and foreign object removal.