Here are five things to know about Medtronic's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 financial performance.
1. Medtronic announced net earnings of $448 million in 4Q of FY 2014, down from net earnings of $969 million during the same period last year. The company reported net earnings of $3.1 billion for the fiscal year ended April 25, 2014, down from the $3.5 billion earned for fiscal year 2013.
The company announced net sales of $4.6 billion in 4Q of 2014, up slightly from 4Q of 2013 when net sales were $4.5 billion. For the fiscal year ended April 25, 2014, Medtronic reported net sales of $17 billion.
2. Medtronic's total reported U.S. revenue for its BMP business totaled $105 million in the fourth quarter, down from $113 million in the third quarter of this year. Full year BMP sales were reported as $409 million. Worldwide revenue for the BMP business totaled $124 million in 4Q, dropping 11 percent from last year. Fully year BMP revenues amounted to $471 million.
3. Medtronic also recently announced that it has agreed to settle its inventories of filed and unfiled product liability claims related to Infuse Bone Graft. Under the terms of the agreement, Medtronic, subject to certain conditions, will resolve the claims of an estimated 950 claimants for a total payment of approximately $22 million.
The agreement is not in any way an admission of liability or validity of any defense in the litigation by Medtronic; the company continues to stand beind Infuse, which has been used by more than one million patients over the past decade. The company anticipates it will take special charge in the range of $120 million to $140 million in its fourth quarter.
4. The company's total reported U.S. revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 is $2.4 billion, and for FY 2014 is $9.2 billion. Medtronic reported 4Q worldwide revenue of $4.6 billion and full year revenue of $17 billion, up $500 million from the same period last year. "We remain focused on delivering consistent and dependable growth across all of our businesses through our three growth vectors: new therapies, emerging markets and independent services and solutions," said Omar Ishrak, Medtronic chairman and CEO.
5. The total reported U.S. revenue for its core spine business was $429 million, down from $437 million during the same period last year. Worldwide, its core spine business amounted to revenues of $2.6 billion for fiscal year 2014 in total. The Core Spine depends on the Surgical SynergySM program of enabling technologies, including imaging, navigation and powered surgical instruments, to differentiate itself.
"There are tremendous opportunicies ahead as we transform Medtronic from being primarily a device provider today into a premier global medical technology solutions partner tomorrow," said Mr. Ishrak, noting confidence in the company's ability to drive more value into their systems.
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