CHELMSFORD, Mass. (AP) -- Zoll Medical Corp.'s fiscal first-quarter profit grew 70 percent on greater sales of its LifeVest wearable defibrillator and other devices.
The company said Thursday that its net income rose to $6.6 million, or 29 cents per share, from $3.9 million, or 18 cents per share. Its revenue increased 18 percent to $133.7 million.
The results topped Wall Street expectations for earnings of 25 cents per share on revenue of $131.9 million, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
Zoll said revenue from LifeVest, which detects life-threatening heart rhythms and delivers electric shocks to correct them, rose 45 percent to $32.3 million in the three months ended Jan. 1. In North America, sales of products other than LifeVest rose 18 percent to $68.3 million, while its international sales edged up to $33.2 million from $32.8 million. Sales of temperature-management devices rose to $7.5 million from $5.9 million, but sales of its AutoPulse automated CPR devices declined to $4 million from $4.8 million.
In August a Medicare carrier proposed limits on reimbursement for devices like LifeVest. If adopted, those limits could have hurt the company's sales, but in December Medicare said it will not change its coverage policy. Medicare has covered LifeVest since 2005.
Shares of Zoll Medical fell 3.9 percent to $64.40 Thursday, but edged up 20 cents to $64.60 in aftermarket trading.
