(Reuters) – British medical products maker Smith+Nephew said on Wednesday sales in April nearly halved as more patients delayed elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, due to coronavirus-driven lockdowns.
The company had withdrawn its annual forecast in March due to demand-related uncertainty for its products that include orthopaedic implants and prosthetics.
The company said April sales slumped 47% on an underlying basis, while first-quarter revenue fell 7.6% to $1.13 billion, scraping past analysts average expectation https://www.smith-nephew.com/investor-centre/reporting/analyst-consensus/smith-and-nephew of $1.12 billion. (https://reut.rs/3frFu7e)
The London-listed company said elective procedures had resumed in China, a key growth market, which helped counter a fall in demand.
“The recovery in China is encouraging, as is the restart of elective surgeries in many other countries, and especially within the US,” said Roland Diggelmann, chief executive officer of Smith+Nephew.
The company said its biggest market, the United States, had seen some resurgence of elective surgeries but warned of lingering uncertainty across markets.
Sales from emerging markets fell 17.9% in the quarter.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)
