Halyard Health on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter 2014 net sales rose 2% to $439 million from $431 million in the same period the previous year, driven largely by strong sales of its surgical and infection-prevention equipment.
Halyard was part of manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Corp. until Nov. 1, 2014, when it was spun off to become a fully independent, publicly traded company.
The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company saw a net loss of $2.4 million in the fourth-quarter 2014 compared to the net income of $40 million it experienced in the fourth quarter of 2013. Halyard reported earnings per share for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2014, of $1.59 compared with earnings per share of $0.95 in 2013. Revenues for the full year totaled $1.7 billion for the medical product maker, which represented a 0.3% decline from 2013.
“This is an exciting time for Halyard Health as we report our fourth-quarter results, our first as an independent company,” Robert Abernathy, chairman and CEO of Halyard, said in a statement. “We executed a smooth separation from Kimberly-Clark and I'm pleased with our early progress following the spinoff. We delivered sales growth and margin improvement in the fourth quarter while we remain focused on executing our plans to deliver strong returns to shareholders.”
A large proportion of Halyard's fourth-quarter sales came from in its surgical and infection prevention unit, which saw sales rise 2% compared with the same period in 2013. Demand for facial protection and exam gloves rose as a result of an early start to the current flu season as well as a heightened threat of infectious disease spurred largely by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the company said.
The company projected earnings per share of $2.50 for 2015 on an expectation of a 2% jump in net sales for the year.
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