Zimmer trims full-year forecast after quarterly profit falls

Zimmer Holdings Inc. beat analysts’ estimates with its third-quarter profit, but trimmed its full-year forecast.

The Warsaw-based maker of orthopedic implants said Thursday morning that it earned $178.1 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, a 7-percent decline from the same quarter last year.

Excluding special charges, however, Zimmer would have earned $202.1 million, a 2.5-percent increase from a year ago. Earnings per share on that basis totaled $1.15.

Wall Street analysts were expecting $1.13 per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

For the full year, Zimmer now expects earnings per share to fall between $4.75 and $4.80 on a reported basis and between $5.25 and $5.35, excluding special charges. Zimmer’s previous forecasts had added another nickel of earnings on the high end of those ranges.

Revenue for the third quarter totaled $1.03 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates. That total was down 0.6 percent from the same quarter last year, but excluding the impact of foreign echange rates, it would have marked a 2.5-percent increase.

Sales were strongest in Europe, growing 8 percent on a constant currency basis. Zimmer’s sales of knees grew 9 percent in Europe and its sales of hips grew 4 percent. However, when exchange rates are factored in, all those gains turned negative.

Overall sales in the United States were flat, with sales of knees falling 4 percent and sales of hips rising 2 percent.

Zimmer expects foreign exchange rates to keep its sales flat for the rest of the year.