Patterson 4Q Profit Up 1.5% On Broad Sales Growth

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 

Patterson Cos.'s (PDCO) fiscal fourth-quarter profit grew 1.5% on across-the-board sales growth, topping Wall Street expectations for the period.

The wholesaler of dental, veterinary and other products has posted strong revenue growth over most of the past year, especially in the dental business, its largest by revenue. Revenue in that unit slid in the third quarter, but it reported renewed growth in the fourth quarter largely on sales of new-technology equipment, including dental restorative systems and digital radiography products.

"We believe the fundamentals of the North American dental market are continuing to strengthen as evidenced by our improved consumables sales growth in recent periods," President and Chief Executive Scott P. Anderson said. "Given this market firming, we believe the improvement in our dental equipment business indicates that dentists are gradually becoming more confident about investing in their practices."

For the quarter ended April 30, Patterson reported a profit of $62.7 million, or 53 cents a share, up from $61.8 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.7% to $883.8 million. Analysts most recently projected earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $845 million.

Gross margin narrowed to 34.4% from 35.4%.

The company's dental-supply business reported 4.7% revenue growth as sales of consumable dental supplies increased 2.5% and dental equipment and software sales rose 11%.

Veterinary sales grew 14%, while the rehabilitation supply and equipment unit posted a 22% sales jump.

For the current fiscal year, Patterson guided for a per-share profit of $1.90 to $2, including an estimated 12-cent impact from stock-related compensation. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently projected $2.08 a share.

Shares closed at $35.13 Wednesday and were inactive premarket. The stock has gained 21% over the past 12 months.

-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; [e-mail]