Biomet Earnings Fall Short of Analyst Estimates

Orthopedic device maker Biomet said Monday FQ4 earnings fell more than 50% to $0.17/share ($41.5 million), from $0.41 ($100.4 million) a year earlier. Excluding special items and compensation expenses EPS was $0.39 cents a share on net sales of $549.4 million, up from $539 million a year ago. Both earnings and revenue fell short of analyst estimates, which were calling for EPS of $0.49 on revenue of $573 million. Sales of reconstructive devices fell 8%, fixation sales dropped 22%, and spinal products fell 10%, while hip sales gained 7% and extremity sales were up 13%. In June, the company agreed to be acquired by a private equity consortium of Blackstone, KKR, TPG and Goldman Sachs' private equity arm.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch, Bloomberg,
Commentary: Biomet: I Would Cheer If The Deal Fell Apart • Biomet Buyout Offer Was Way Too Low
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Biomet Inc. (BMET), Blackstone Group LP (BX), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS). Competitors: Medtronic Inc. (MDT), ArthroCare Corp. (ARTC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Orthofix International N.V. (OFIX)
Conference call transcript: Biomet F1Q07

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