Smith & Nephew reports strong first quarter growth…

Smith & Nephew reports strong first quarter growth with £44m sales uplift

Medical technology specialist Smith & Nephew has reported a 6.9 per cent increase in first quarter revenues.

Continued strong growth in sports medicine, ear, nose and throat and advanced wound management divisions, together with an improved performance in orthopaedics have been credited with driving the Hull-founded business’s £44 million uplift, keeping the period’s sales above the £1 billion mark.

Sports medicine and ENT hit double digit growth at 10 per cent, with advanced wound management up 7.9 per cent. The London and New York listed firm is awaiting permission to build a £94 million base in Melton, East Yorkshire, moving just outside of its home city.

New product launches are aiding the growth, with established markets driving the lift - with the US the strongest, up 11.8 per cent. It took total revenues up from $1,306 million to $1,356 million in the corresponding period.

Deepak Nath, chief executive, said: "I'm pleased with our revenue performance in the first quarter as we delivered growth across all three franchises, including improvement in orthopaedics.

"We saw strong elective procedure volumes in our established markets early in the quarter, which our surgical businesses are now better placed to benefit from. We are consistently seeing accelerated adoption of robotics and the new CORI Digital Tensioner adds further differentiation to our platform and will support better outcomes for patients.”

The proprietary device aids soft tissue balancing in knee replacement surgery, measuring ligament tension.

Smith & Nephew's CORI Digital Tensioner. (Smith & Nephew)

"We are still in the early phases of the two-year life-cycle of our 12-point plan and are focused on driving transformation," Mr Nath added.

Supply challenges in some raw materials continue to hold it back, and it is expected to “remain a headwind during 2023”.

Full year 2023 guidance was unchanged, with 5 per cent to 6 per cent revenue growth and trading profit margin of at least 17.5 per cent anticipated over and above the £4.3 billion sales generated in 2022.

Smith & Nephew was founded by pharmacist Thomas James Smith from his small operation in Hull in 1856, initially developing a new method for refining cod liver oil, before moving into bandage cutting and rolling. It was a move made less than a decade before the outbreak of World War One, during which time headcount went from 50 to 1,200. The nine building complex it occupies at the city centre gateway had been developed from 1907, but is now described as disjointed and inefficient.

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here