Manufacturer NewsWire

Financials

Invacare to Add Manufacturing in China: Commenting on Invacare’s second quarter earnings, Malachi Mixon, the company’s chairman and CEO, said the Elyria, Ohio-based company plans to establish manufacturing capacity in China in 2004. Mixon made the statement after explaining that the company is “attacking its costs in order to respond to the pricing pressures from Asian knock-offs of Invacare products.” For the second quarter ended June 30, 2003, Invacare reported a net income of $15.4 million, or 50 cents per share, compared to a net income of $16.1 million, or 52 cents per share, for the same quarter the previous fiscal year. Sales for the quarter were $300.1 million.

Abbott Announces Settlement and Acquisition: Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories, parent company of enteral-feeding-product manufacturer Ross Products, has agreed to pay $400 million in a civil settlement, and $200 million in criminal fines, to resolve allegations surrounding Ross’s participation in an industry-wide product-bundling practice. The settlement also resolved allegations that Ross violated the anti-kickback statute by offering inducements to companies that entered written contracts to purchase product intended for Medicare patients. In other Abbott news, the company announced Ross’ acquisition of ZonePerfect Nutrition, a manufacturer of nutritious products for active people. Under the terms of the deal, Abbott will acquire all of ZonePerfect’s equity for approximately $160 million in cash. More information about the settlement and the acquisition is available at www.ross.com.

Allied Healthcare to Break Credit Agreement, Reduce Staff: After reviewing its preliminary fourth quarter earnings, Allied Healthcare, St. Louis, has warned its primary lender, LaSalle Bank, that it “will not meet required levels of earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization and fixed charge coverage under its revolving credit facility with LaSalle.” To control costs, Allied plans to reduce its managerial and administrative staff by approximately 10 percent, a measure that would yield about $900,000 in savings during fiscal year 2004, the company explained. “Allied already has made progress in controlling and reducing production costs while correcting [the] quality, customer service and product-delivery issues that caused loss of market share in past years,” said Earl Refsland, the company’s CEO. “We intend to continue progress on costs, and focus on building sales of existing products and developing revenue from new products in the coming year.”

People & Places

Trac Has New Tech Officer: Trac Medical Solutions of Schenectady, N.Y., has named Mike Wolf chief technology officer. Wolf, who also is CTO of Trac’s parent company, Authentidate Holding, replaces Terry Williams.

Altimate Makes Staff Changes: Altimate Medical, Morton, Minn., has promoted Mark Schmitt to vice president of product development. Schmitt was Altimate’s marketing director. The company also promoted Jenny Roiger to the position of customer service lead and Bryanne Freitag to marketing assistant.

Yannerella Celebrates 25 Years with Sunrise: Ken Yannerella, vice president of national accounts for Longmont, Colo.-based Sunrise Medical, this year celebrates his 25th anniversary with the company. An award-winning employee, Yannerella joined Sunrise in 1978 as a representative for Guardian Products. He later served as regional manager for the Southwest; director of national accounts for home care, rehab and drug wholesalers; director of the company’s rehab group and national accounts; central regional sales director for home care and rehab; area vice president for the Southwest; and vice president of distributor accounts.

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