Siemens Healthineers Q1 profit slides on lower COVID-19 test sales

Berlin: Siemens Healthineers reported a 28 per cent drop in quarterly operating profit due to lower sales of rapid COVID-19 antigen tests and delays at a supplier of its Varian business.

Pandemic lockdowns in China led to a drop in revenue at Healthineers' Diagnostics business by nearly a quarter as fewer COVID-19 tests were used there, the U.S.-German medical device maker said on Thursday.

Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the three months through December fell to 647 million euros ($712.93 million), less than the 663 million expected by analysts, according to a consensus provided by the company.

Revenues for the fiscal first quarter came to 5.08 billion euros, down 4.5 per cent on a comparable basis, which was also below consensus for 5.21 billion.

The company nonetheless stuck with its guidance for full-year revenue growth of -1 per cent to +1 per cent , or 6-8 per cent growth excluding revenue from COVID-19 tests, and said it still saw adjusted basic earnings per share of 2 euros to 2.20 euros.