Biomet Q4 Profits Slip

Orthopedic device maker Biomet Inc., of Warsaw, Indiana,  announced a 5% decline in its fiscal fourth-quarter net income. Biomet said its net income for the three-month period fell to $98.5 million from $103.2 million, in the year-ago quarter. The company’s sales in the quarter rose to $534 million, from $503 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales of Biomet’s knee implants rose 15% worldwide and 21% in the US. The quarterly results included $9 million in separation charges payable to Dane A Miller, the company’s former president and CEO, and $5.4 million in charges related to the review and reorganization of the EBI operations. Biomet said it was comfortable with the consensus sales and earnings expectations of $513 to $530 million for the fiscal first quarter.
    And despite setbacks – including an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation into possible antitrust violations in the orthopedic device market – the company seemed optimistic about the future.
    “Although the company, as a whole, underperformed our internal expectations during fiscal year 2006 Biomet’s orthopedic reconstructive products and dental reconstructive implants continued to receive strong market support,” Dann Hann, interim president and CEO said in a statement.
    He added that the company is confident that changes at the poorly-performing subsidiary EBI will ultimately mean operational improvements in 2007.