(By Balaseshan) C.R. Bard Inc. (NYSE: BCR), a maker of medical devices, reported a 13% increase in quarterly earnings on strong performance across three of its four product groups. Results exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $128.2 million or $1.52 per share, higher than last year's $113.8 million or $1.30 per share. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.70 per share, unchanged from last year.
Sales rose 1% to $762.6 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales for the latest quarter increased 2%.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected BCR to earn $1.67 per share on revenue of $757.49 million for the fourth quarter.
Vascular sales fell 4%, while urology sales rose 3%. Oncology sales increased 5%, while sales from surgical specialties rose 4%.
Sales in the U.S. decreased 1% to $498.1 million, while sales outside the U.S. increased 6% to $264.5 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales outside the U.S. grew 8% over the prior-year period.
"While the near term environment remains challenging, especially in our developed markets, we are executing a strategy to return to faster growth through investments in emerging markets and new product categories," said Timothy Ring, chairman and chief executive officer.
BCR closed Thursday's regular session down 0.16% at $102.07. The stock has been trading between $91.41 and $108.31 for the past 52 weeks.