Solid diabetes sales drive slight Q3 growth at BD Medical

28-Jul-2010 - Last updated on 29-Jul-2010 at 10:22 GMT

The medical unit of Becton Dickinson (BD) reported a slight increase in revenues in the third quarter driven by solid sales of diabetes products.

BD Medical, which produces needles and syringes, generated revenues of $993m (€759m) in the third quarter, up year-on-year by 2.5 per cent. This increase occurred despite softer pharma systems revenues, due to timing of orders, and the 2009 spike caused by the H1N1 flu pandemic.

Growth in revenues at BD Medical was primarily driven from sales outside the US. These international sales increased 3.5 per cent to $590.9m. Sales from the US grew by one per cent to $402.0m.

This fits with the pattern seen over the first nine months of fiscal 2010 at BD Medical. International sales have grown 10.6 per cent to $1.7bn, compared to a 7.5 per cent increase in US sales which total $1.3bn so far this year.

Results for the BD Medical unit include revenues from assets that the firm agreed to sell in May. The assets include ophthalmic systems and were estimated to generate $200m of revenues in fiscal 2010. BD expects the sale to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Other units

BD Biosciences recorded the most dramatic improvement in the third quarter, posting 8.4 per cent growth in revenues. Revenues from the unit totalled $309.1m. The growth was driven by performance in the US, where revenues increased by 14.8 per cent to $124.1m.

Growth of 1.7 per cent took revenues at BD Diagnostics up to $576.3m. Performance in the US and international markets was fairly similar, with growth of 1.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.

Overall BD grew revenues by 3.2 per cent to $1.9bn. This underpinned a slight increase in operating income, which grew by 1.9 per cent to $440.1m.