Profit up at Hologic

Medical imaging systems maker Hologic Inc. said today that it swung to a profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, from a year-ago loss which included a hefty acquisition charge.

For the quarter ended Sept. 29, the company earned $32.1 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.5 million, or 3 cents per share, a year ago. The year-earlier quarter was hurt by a $15.1 million charge for in-process research and development costs related to the R2 Technology Inc. and Suros Surgical Systems Inc. acquisitions.

Revenue rose 31 percent to $202.6 million from $154.1 million, benefiting from higher product sales of digital mammography system Selenia in the most-recent quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 47 cents per share, on revenue of $198.1 million.

For the 12 months ended Sept. 29, net income rose to $94.6 million, or $1.72 per share, compared with $27.4 million, or 56 cents per share. Adjusted earnings more than doubled to $110.4 million from $49.9 million.

Revenue rose 60 percent to $738.4 million, up from $462.7 million.

Analysts estimated full-year earnings of $1.61 per share on revenue of $733.8 million.

Revenue growth was mainly driven by sales in the mammography and breast care segment which increased 45 percent to $165.1 million for the fourth quarter. Higher sales of Selenia along with R2 CAD software primarily boosted the revenue. The company bought R2 and Suros in July last year.

Hologic said revenue for its osteoporosis segment decreased to $15.1 million from $19.2 million, mainly on a reduction in the number of bone densitometry systems sold in the U.S.

In a conference call with analysts, the company forecast fiscal 2008 earnings per share of $2.15 to $2.20 on revenue of about $1.7 billion on increased sales of Selenia, as well as continued revenue growth from the biopsy and diagnostic groups. Previously, the company had forecast profit of $2.35 to $2.40 per share, on an adjusted basis, on $1.7 billion in sales.

Fiscal first-quarter earnings per share are expected to be about 49 cents, excluding multiple items.

Analysts are looking for profit of 46 cents per share for the first quarter and full-year earnings of $1.98 per share on revenue of $856.4 million. (AP)