Boston Scientific announces second-quarter results

Boston Scientific has announced its results for the second quarter of the 2007 fiscal year. During the quarter, the company generated net sales of $2.071 billion (1.01 billion pounds), down from $2.11 billion for the same quarter last year.

The 2007 results including the cardiac rhythm management and cardiac surgery businesses purchased from Guidant in April 2006.

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $271 million, down from $412 million for the comparable quarter last year, equal to $0.18 per share, down from $0.31.

Boston Scientific has estimated that net sales for the third quarter of the year will range between $2.0 and $2.1 billion, with estimated earnings per share on a GAAP basis of between $0.03 and $0.08.

Jim Tobin, president and chief executive officer of Boston Scientific, said: “We made progress in a number of key areas during the quarter.

“Most important, we made progress on quality throughout the organisation, including the resolution of the CRM [cardiac rhythm management] warning letter.”

He added that the drug-eluting stent and CRM markets were beginning to stablise, but have not yet reached the level the firm anticipates, while the launch of the Taxus Express2 product in Japan has seen notable sales to date.

In January 2007, Boston Scientific announced plans to reallocate its CRM research and development resources in order to boost its productivity, innovation and competitiveness while also improving trust in the business.