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Healthineers Sees 5% Growth as Sales Beat Estimates

Healthineers Forecasts 5% Sales Growth as Profit Meets Estimates

(Bloomberg) --

Siemens Healthineers AG reported quarterly sales that beat analysts’ estimates and the German maker of MRI body-scanners predicted annual growth of at least 5% over the next three years.

Revenue rose 12% to 4.14 billion euros ($4.62 billion) in the three months through September, the Erlangen-based company said in a statement Monday, beating the average estimate of 3.99 billion euros. The stock gained as much as 8.1%, the steepest jump since its split from Siemens AG in 2018.

Healthineers, still mostly owned by Siemens, is looking for new markets outside its core business of MRI and CT machines. Atellica, a new diagnostics blood-test platform that struggled to meet initial goals, shipped 1,820 units in the 2019 fiscal year, meeting a lowered target. The unit’s mid-teens margin target was pushed back by two years to 2024.

“We are vigorously tackling the challenges at Diagnostics,” Healthineers Chief Executive Officer Bernd Montag said in the statement. “We are now entering the next, so-called upgrading phase.”

In 2020, the company expects to increase revenue by 5% to 6%, while EPS will advance 6% to 12%. That momentum will extend into 2021 and 2022, Healthineers added. Fourth-quarter earnings per share met estimates.

The shares traded 6.5% higher at 40.86 euros as of 9:05 a.m. in Frankfurt.

“The guidance is in a new format, making consensus comparisons difficult, but we think revenue growth for 2020 looks better but margin expectations are in line,” Martin Wilkie, Citigroup analyst, said in a note.

Another area for potential expansion is minimally invasive surgery, where the company is planning to combine its scanners with robotics in order to create products that guide doctors through catheter-based surgery in cases like strokes. It bought Massachusetts-based Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc. for $1.1 billion in August to gain a foothold in the robotics segment.

--With assistance from Jan-Patrick Barnert.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Sachgau in Munich at osachgau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Andrew Noël

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