Soon-to-merge Covidien, a Dublin-based medical and surgical supplier, said that sales rose 4% to $10.6 billion during its fiscal 2014, which ended Sept. 26, but net income dropped 2% to $1.6 billion for the year. A deal announced in June that would combine Covidien and Medtronic, a Minneapolis-based medical device manufacturer, is expected to close this year.
The tie-up would pair two types of medical suppliers and create the second-largest device company in the world with an estimated $26 billion in total sales. Medtronic is known for selling costly pacemakers and cardiac devices, while about half of Covidien's revenue comes from the sales of surgical supplies such as staples and synthetic mesh.
“Market share gains, strategic acquisitions, the successful launch of new products and productivity improvements all contributed to the achievement of double-digit earnings growth, both for the quarter and for the year,” Covidien Chairman and CEO José Almeida, said in a statement.
The company made two deals during the fourth quarter, announcing plans to buy Sapheon, a Morrisville, N.C.-based manufacturer of devices that help treat venous diseases, and Reverse Medical Corp., an Irvine, Calif.-based maker of endovascular devices.
Covidien said that sales increased 7% to $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $2.5 billion it reported in the same quarter a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $517 million, up from $372 million.
Quarterly growth was led by an 11% increase in sales in the surgical solutions business, which reported $1.3 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter.
Sales of vascular therapies went up 3% to $426 million in the fourth quarter, while revenue for respiratory and patient-care products also rose 3% to $974 million.
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