Dentsply Sirona ousts interim COO, beats with Q4 results

Dentsply Sirona (NSDQ:XRAY) yesterday ousted interim COO Bob Size and reported fourth-quarter and 2017 results that beat the consensus expectation for both sales and earnings.

Size was appointed last October, when the dental devices giant cleared the deck, ousting its chairman, CEO and COO (former Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) exec Donald Casey Jr. was hired as chief executive last month).

This week, York, Pa.-based Dentsply Sirona said it decided Feb. 28 that Size “would cease to serve” effective today.

“Mr. Size will continue with the organization for a period to be determined in order to assist with the transition,” according to a regulatory filing.

In a separate release, Dentsply Sirona released its preliminary numbers for the fourth quarter and full year, topping Wall Street’s expectations despite a slide to red ink on goodwill impairment charges and the impact of last year’s tax reforms.

Losses were -$673.4 million, or -$2.95 per share, on sales of $1.09 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, compared with Q4 2016 profits of $107.0 million on sales growth of 9.5%.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 82¢, a penny ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $1.06 billion.

Full-year losses came to -$1.58 billion, or -$6.86 per share, on sales of $4.0 billion, compared with profits of $429.9 million in 2016, for sales growth of 6.6% over the prior year. Adjusted EPS were $2.66 for 2017.

“My early days at Dentsply Sirona have confirmed my belief that this this a great company in an attractive industry. The task at hand is to focus the company on the priorities to achieve both growth and operational improvement,” Casey said in prepared remarks. “We will take advantage of our breadth of innovative products and strong global market position to deliver unique dental solutions. Our employees are excited to create value every day and we intend to invest in leading technologies to continue the legacies of Dentsply Sirona.”

The company said it expects to report adjusted EPS of $2.70 to $2.80 this year on constant-currency sales growth of roughly 3%.

XRAY shares were off -1.3% to $54.55 apiece today in pre-market trading.

The post Dentsply Sirona ousts interim COO, beats with Q4 results appeared first on MassDevice.

from MassDevice http://ift.tt/2oKB81F