Agfa HealthCare of Mortsel, Belgium, posted second-quarter (end-June 30) sales of 359 million euros ($437 million), a slight uptick compared with the 356 million euros ($434 million) from the same period last year.
The vendor said that, excluding currency effects and recent acquisitions, sales in the healthcare business unit decreased by 6.7%. Agfa stated that the main reasons for the decrease were a weaker than expected trading environment in the U.S. and increased price erosion.
The company reported that HealthCare's operating profit was 34 million euros ($41.4 million) for the period, a sharp downturn compared with the 53.7 million euros ($65.4 million) shown in the second quarter of 2004. The company also said its return on sales for the unit was 9.5%, a marked decline compared with the 15.1% it enjoyed in the same period in 2004.
Agfa remains upbeat about its performance expectations and said that it expects stronger sales in the next six months and a particularly strong last quarter in HealthCare. However, the company stated that although it expects 2005 to grow year over year in both its HealthCare and Graphics business groups, second-half profits will not offset the shortfall of the first half of 2005.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
August 18, 2005
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