Smith & Nephew climbs after restructuring starts to pay off
ARTIFICIAL hip and knee maker Smith & Nephew (S&N) said yesterday the early fruits of a restructuring programme and a strong performance in knee implants delivered a better-than-expected five per cent rise in first-quarter trading profit.
The group, which also makes wound therapy products, reported trading profit of $252m (£155m), $10m better than analysts expected, on revenue three per cent higher at $1.08bn.
S&N said that its knee franchise grew six per cent, outperforming a market that grew at three per cent.
The group’s hips business continued to lag however, with sales down two per cent.
S&N was the highest climber on the FTSE 100 yesterday as investors reacted well to the update, sending its share price up almost four per cent to 629.50p.
The market for reconstructive surgery has been in the doldrums for a couple of years as patients postpone surgery because of the costs and time off work required.
S&N’s chief executive Olivier Bohuon said it was too soon to talk about a recovery in the US.
“It’s still a very challenging environment, still unstable, however it’s better than one could have expected,” he said.