Medtronic quarterly profit meets expectations

(Reuters) - Largest U.S. standalone medical device maker Medtronic Plc reported a third-quarter profit in-line with analysts’ estimates, as sales across all its units, except the minimally invasive therapies business, grew.

Sales in its cardiac and vascular unit — which sells defibrillators, pace-makers, heart valves and stents — jumped 10 percent to $2.8 billion, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its total sales.

The minimally invasive therapies business, which the company acquired as part of its $42.9 billion deal to buy Covidien in 2015, generated sales of $2.04 billion, a 16 percent fall from the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, Medtronic earned $1.17 per share in the quarter, in-line with analysts’ estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Medtronic, which redomiciled to Ireland through its Covidien deal, said it saw a $2.2 billion net charge related to recent changes in the U.S. tax laws.

The company reported a third-quarter loss of $1.39 billion, or $1.03 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 26, compared with a profit of $821 million, or $0.59 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 1.2 percent to $7.37 billion, beating estimates of $7.21 billion.