Boston Scientific beats profit estimates, raises forecast
(Adds details on TAVR business, Symetis deal, Lotus recall)
July 27 (Reuters) - Boston Scientific Corp on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue as the U.S. medical device maker benefited from strong demand across its businesses, which also helped the company raise full-year expectations.
Sales in Boston Scientific's cardiovascular devices unit - its biggest by revenue - rose 4.7 percent to $876 million in the second quarter ended June 30. The business includes devices such as clot-preventing device Watchman and drug-releasing heart stent Synergy.
The business also houses transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) devices, competing with U.S. rivals Edwards Lifesciences Corp and Medtronic Plc.
TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure to replace a narrowed aortic valve that fails to open properly.
To bolster its position in the TAVR market in Europe, Boston Scientific in May bought Swiss medical device maker Symetis SA - the fourth-largest player in the multi-billion dollar market - for $435 million.
The deal came after Boston Scientific's February recall of its Lotus heart valve devices from Europe and other regions following reports of a faulty locking mechanism.
Last month, Boston Scientific affirmed plans to re-launch the Lotus Edge device in Europe and submit a pre-market approval application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the fourth quarter.
Sales in the company's MedSurg unit, which includes devices for neuromodulation and pelvic procedures, rose about 11 percent to $834 million.
Sales in the cardiac rhythm management business, which sells pacemakers and defibrillators, inched up 0.6 percent.
The company posted net profit of $146 million, or 11 cents per share in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $207 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Boston Scientific earned 32 cents per share, 1 cent above analysts' average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Operating expenses declined in the quarter, as litigation costs fell about 67 percent.
Net sales climbed 6.7 percent to $2.26 billion, beating analysts' expectations of $2.21 billion.
Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific said it now expects full-year revenue of $8.89 billion to $8.99 billion, up from a prior forecast of $8.80 billion to $8.90 billion. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
