Vision-Sciences swings to a Q4 profit on gain from sale
Manufacturer and marketer of products for endoscopy Vision-Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: VSCI) this morning announced it swung to a profit in its fiscal fourth quarter.
For the three months ended March 31, 2007, the Orangeburg N.Y.-based company reported net income of $24 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or $0.03 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006. The increase in earnings is attributed to a gain of $26.1 million on the sale of Vision-Sciences’ Ear-Nose-Throat EndoSheath product line to Medtronic Xomed, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), which closed in March 2007.
Vision-Sciences’ loss from operations widened to $1.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 from $1.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2006.
“We are pleased that we were able to complete the sale of our ENT EndoSheath product line to Medtronic,” said Vision-Sciences CEO Ron Hadani. “We anticipate that this transaction will enable us to focus on accelerating the development of new products and technologies, identifying potential acquisitions of related technologies, and entering new markets we have identified.”
Sales in Vision-Sciences’ medical segment increased 4% to $2.3 million in the fourth quarter, compared with sales of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. For the fourth quarter revenues remained flat at $2.9 million, compared with the same fiscal quarter last year.
Shares of Vision-Sciences gained $0.03 or 2.13% to $1.44 in mid-day trading Thursday.
