ICU Medical 4Q Net Down 18% Despite Sales Growth; View Weak

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

ICU Medical Inc.'s (ICUI) fourth-quarter profit dropped 18% despite double-digit sales growth.

The medical-equipment company also projected 2010 earnings of $1.80 to $1.90 a share on revenue of $265 million to $275 million. Analysts, surveyed by Thomson Reuters, were looking for $1.98 and $270.7 million.

On the weak profit forecast, shares fell 4% to $33 in after-hours trading although the fourth-quarter results topped Wall Street's expectations. The stock through the close was up 13% the past year.

ICU, which closed its $35 million acquisition of Hospira Inc.'s (HSP) critical-care product line in August, is expected to benefit from the acquisition starting this year. The company, which has been more or less immune from the economic downturn, has been expanding its sales force and branching out from its core business, which is providing products that prevent accidental sticks from intravenous needles.

For the latest quarter, ICU reported a profit of $7.4 million, or 50 cents a share, down from $9 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 23% to $69.8 million.

Analysts estimated earnings of 48 cents on revenue of $64.5 million.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; [e-mail]

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