Medtronic beats profit estimates led by strong heart device sales

[August 22, 2017] (Reuters) - Medical device maker Medtronic Plc on Tuesday reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates, driven by strong demand for its heart and vascular devices.

Sales in the company's cardiac and vascular business, which sells defibrillators, pace-makers, heart valves and stents, rose 5.1 percent to $2.65 billion in the first quarter ended July 28, Medtronic said. The business made up nearly 36 percent of total sales.

Dublin-based Medtronic also backed its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts. It expects adjusted earnings per share to increase 9 percent to 10 percent and revenue to rise 4 percent to 5 percent on a constant-currency basis in the year ending April 2018.

Net income attributable to Medtronic rose to $1.02 billion, or 74 cents per share in the first quarter ended July 28, from $929 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.12 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.08, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue climbed 3.1 percent to $7.39 billion, but missed analysts' estimates of $7.45 billion.

Medtronic said that an IT system disruption it experienced in June did have "some impact" on overall quarterly performance, but that it was not material to earnings or revenue.

(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadyay and Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

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