MELVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- Medical-supply distributor Henry Schein Inc. said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit rose from last year as strong demand for dental and animal health products boosted revenue.
The company raised its outlook for the year, and shares rose nearly 4 percent.
Henry Schein expects to earn between $4.30 and $4.40 per share this year, up from its previous guidance of $4.25 to $4.34 per share.
Analysts were expecting $4.33 per share for the year, according to a survey by FactSet.
The company also sees restructuring costs for the year to be about $2 million to $4 million on a pretax basis.
During the quarter ended March 31, Henry Schein earned net income of $89.1 million, or 89 cents per share, compared to $83 million, or 82 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted net income, excluding one-time items, was 98 cents per share. Revenue rose to $2.10 billion from $1.95 billion. The results beat analysts' forecasts of 92 cents per share on $2.03 billion in revenue.
The company said revenue in its global animal health division jumped 15.3 percent to $525.6 million. Global dental sales rose 5.5 percent to $1.2 billion during the quarter.
Henry Schein also said it bought back about 540,000 shares of its stock for about $39 million that during the quarter and still had authorization to buy back $61.4 million of its shares.
Shares rose $2.65, or 3.6 percent, to $77.38 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $58.50 and $77.72 over the last 52 weeks.
