13th Sep 2005 11:20
Smith & Nephew Plc13 September 2005 Smith & Nephew - Trading Update 13 September 2005 Ahead of an analysts visit to the US later this week, Sir Christopher O'Donnell,Group Chief Executive of Smith & Nephew plc (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN) the globalmedical technology business, made the following comments on trading today: "Sales growth over the summer has been below expectations, partly influenced byHurricane Katrina during August. In Orthopaedics sales growth of knee productswas slower following new product roll-outs by competitors. In consequence, andcoupled with the continuing difficulties in Louisiana and Mississippi, Smith andNephew is reducing its full year guidance for underlying sales growth forOrthopaedics by 1% to 17%. In Wound Management a continued decline in USdistributor inventories has caused us to reduce full year guidance forunderlying sales growth for Wound Management by 1% to 5%." "The benefit of translational currency has reduced from 11/2% to 1/2% of sales,for the full year, following the recent decline in the US dollar versus Smithand Nephew's reporting currency, sterling. A further consequence is that thetrading margin for the full year will be slightly lower at approximately 20.6%and full year EPS growth will be 12 - 13%." Smith & Nephew will start its close period on 30 September ahead of announcingresults for the third quarter on 27 October. A conference call for analysts will be held today at 12.00pm BST / 7.00am EST.For details contact Samantha Hardy on +44 (0) 20 7960 2257. The call will beaudio webcast live at www.smith-nephew.com and a recording will be availableshortly afterwards. Enquiries Investors Peter Hooley Tel: +44 (0) 20 7401 7646Smith & Nephew Group Finance Director Investors / Media Liz Hewitt Tel: +44 (0) 20 7401 7646Smith & Nephew Group Director Corporate Affairs About us Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specialising inOrthopaedics, Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management products. Smith & Nephewis a global leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one ofthe fastest growing global orthopaedics companies. Smith & Nephew is dedicated to helping improve people's lives. The companyprides itself on the strength of its relationships with its surgeons andprofessional healthcare customers, with whom its name is synonymous with highstandards of performance, innovation and trust. The company has over 8,500employees and operates in 33 countries around the world generating annual salesof £1.25 billion. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within themeaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Inparticular, statements regarding expected revenue growth and operating marginsdiscussed under "Outlook" are forward-looking statements as are discussions ofour product pipeline. These statements, as well as the phrases "aim", "plan","intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect","target", "consider" and similar expressions, are generally intended to identifyforward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known andunknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors (including, but notlimited to, the outcome of litigation, claims and regulatory approvals) thatcould cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Smith & Nephew,or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performanceor achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Pleaserefer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securitiesand Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, asamended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20F, for adiscussion of certain of these factors. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on informationavailable to Smith & Nephew as of the date hereof. All written or oralforward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew or any person actingon behalf of Smith & Nephew are expressly qualified in their entirety by theforegoing. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or reviseany forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Smith &Nephew's expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions orcircumstances on which any such statement is based. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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