Medtronic Profit Falls 19% on Charges

Medical device maker Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) disclosed on Tuesday a 19% drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profits and issued tepid guidance for the new fiscal year.

The Minneapolis-based company said it earned $776 million, or 72 cents a share, in the quarter ended April 29, compared with a profit of $954 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned 90 cents, trailing the Street’s view of 92 cents.

Sales grew by 2.4% to $4.3 billion, essentially matching consensus calls from analysts for $4.29 billion.

“We saw steady growth across most of our businesses and geographies, which was offset by challenging dynamics in the U.S. implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) and spinal markets,” CEO Bill Hawkins said in a statement.

Medtronic said cardiac and vascular sales gained 1% to $2.32 billion, while restorative therapies posted a 4% jump in sales to $1.97 billion.

At the same time, Medtronic said it expects to earn $3.43 to $3.50 a share in fiscal 2012 on a 1% to 3% rise in sales. However, analysts had been forecasting stronger full-year EPS of $3.62 on sales of $16.69 billion.

Shares of Medtronic lost ground on the results and guidance, sliding 2.57% to $40.20 ahead of Tuesday’s open. The stock had been up more than 11% on the year as of Monday.