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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of the home medical equipment industry.
