Smith & Nephew's (SN.) full-year figures were somewhat overshadowed by chief executive Olivier Bohuon's $1.7bn (£1.04bn) deal to buy US-listed medical technology outfit ArthroCare (US: ARTC), announced a few days before. Yet the hip and knee group's numbers were strong, with earnings of 76.9¢ a share some 2 per cent ahead of consensus forecasts. Broker Investec, which currently has EPS of 83.5¢ pencilled in for this year, expects to upgrade its numbers by 2-5 per cent.
IC TIP:
Hold
at
903p
Owning ArthroCare will allow Smith & Nephew to capitalise on already strong growth in the US. The group's orthopaedic reconstruction business delivered 11 per cent growth in knee-replacement sales in the region last year, driving total US sales up 9 per cent.