Bard C R (NYSE:BCR)
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From May 2019 to May 2024

C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR) is no longer targeting double-digit sales growth this year, but continues to believe it can achieve per-share earnings growth of 14%, the company's top official said Wednesday.

The medical-products company also issued guidance for the third quarter during a conference call following its second-quarter release.

Bard is now targeting sales growth, excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency rates, of 6% to 7% this year, Timothy M. Ring, Bard's chairman and chief executive, said on the call.

This means the pace of sales growth is expected to improve in the second half of the year after 6% gains in both the first and second quarters, excluding currency. Bard said in April, after the first-quarter report showed unexpected pressure on sales from the troubled economy, that its goal of posting double-digit earnings growth could be at risk.

That proved correct, but tight controls on costs plus expectations for less of a currency hit have thus far helped the company guard its bottom-line aspirations.

"From a earnings point of view, we continue to see nothing in our path to keep us from achieving 14% EPS growth for the year," Ring said.

Bard announced a restructuring and cost-cutting plan last April, but Ring stressed on Wednesday that these were strategic moves long in development, and that the company will not compromise the business to achieve an earnings target.

"We continue to manage the business for the long term," Ring said.

Shares of Bard were recently down 1.9% at $71.50 in after-hours trading after slipping 2.3% during Wednesday's regular trading session.

Also on Wednesday's call, Chief Financial Officer Todd C. Schermerhorn said Bard is targeting 6%-to-8% sales growth in the third quarter, excluding currency.

Bard forecast that per-share earnings will range between $1.25 and $1.29 in the current quarter, bracketing the average forecast among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com