AEQUITRON MEDICAL SALES MOVE AHEAD 9.8% TO $27 MIL. IN FISCAL YEAR 1993
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Aequitron Medical sales increased to $27 mil. in FY 1993, a 9.8% gain over FY 1992 sales of $24.6 mil. For the year (ended April 30), income jumped 37% to $900,000. The Minneapolis-based firm said it experienced growth "in each of its three major product lines -- apnea [products], ventilators and Crow River" subsidiary products. Aequitron's "service and rental business also contributed to the revenue increase during the year," the firm reported. James Hickey, Jr., Aequitron president and CEO, noted a "slowdown" of sales in the fourth quarter "due to uncertainty surrounding health care reform." For the quarter, sales were roughly flat at $6.6 mil., with earnings falling 72% to $32,400. Cabot Medical also attributed a softening in some of its markets to "uncertainty" over the impact of health care reform. The company reported a 24.4% slide in second quarter earnings, to $514,000. Second quarter revenues advanced 41.9%, however; Cabot Chairman Warren Wood said that "sales of our procedure based disposable devices continue at a satisfactory level." Wood added: "We see this slowdown in our business as a temporary situation which will be self correcting as the elements of the reform proposal become more apparent." Gamma Biologicals said that two one-time charges led to a loss of $687,000 in the fourth quarter ended March 31, on revenues of $4.4 mil., down 5.1%. The company discontinued its Fe-Cult product line, affecting both third and fourth quarter results, and the company also took a fourth quarter charge for "previously capitalized device development charges associated with the electro-biosensor project."