S&N looks to the emerging markets

ARTIFICIAL joints maker Smith & Nephew said emerging markets would help counter slow European and United States trade in 2013, as it posted a drop in fourth-quarter profits after rivals’ new products hurt its knee implant business.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Feb 2013, 05:00 BST

Having cut jobs and reorganised to reduce reliance on those slower markets, the company saw emerging market sales deliver 14 per cent growth – against just 1 per cent in the US and 2 per cent in Europe – while revenue in China rose 30 per cent.

“We expect the market conditions seen in 2012 broadly to continue in 2013,” Smith & Nephew said in a statement.

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Smith & Nephew has its advanced wound management business in Hull, where it employs 800 people. The company, which competes with Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer and Stryker in implants, said overall trading profit was $272m for the three months to end-December, down from $279m a year ago, but up 2 per cent excluding the impact of currency and acquisitions.

The fourth-quarter results beat market expectations on both the top and bottom line. The group posted revenue of $1.08bn, slightly down on a year ago, and adjusted earnings per share were 21.6 cents, down from 21.9 cents in the fourth quarter.

Shares in the group have risen by 4 per cent since the start of 2013.

Related topics:United StatesHullChinaEurope