Smith & Nephew releases trading report for first quarter of 2021
In its beginning of the year trading report, Smith & Nephew announced global revenue growth across all three of its global franchises compared with the first quarter of 2020.
The company reported $1.264 million in revenue during the first quarter, an increase of 11.5% from 2020 on a reported basis from foreign exchange and acquisitions. It also saw 2 more trading days than the same period in the previous year.
Smith & Nephew’s three global franchises – orthopedics, sports medicine and ear, nose and throat (ENT) and advanced wound management – experienced growth on a reported and underlying (1.6%, 10.4% and 9.3%, respectively) basis.
Sports medicine and advanced wound management achieved the largest growth, “driven by the return of elective surgeries in an outpatient setting” and “improved commercial execution,” according to the release.
Knee implants and ENT markets saw declines this quarter, as did advanced wound devices. However, Smith & Nephew attributes decline in this sector to the impacts of COVID-19 in Europe.
Established markets saw an increase of 3.4% of underlying revenue, while emerging markets saw 21.8% underlying due to the economy in China beginning to rebound from the effects of the pandemic.
Full-year guidance for 2021 estimated underlying revenue growth to be in the 10% to 13% range and trading profit margins to be around 18% to 19%.
“Our first priority for 2021 is to return to growth and recapture our pre-COVID momentum, and we are encouraged by our early progress through [the first quarter],” Roland Diggelmann, CEO of Smith & Nephew, said in the release. “This was driven not only by surgery volumes moving toward more normal levels in many markets, but also the benefits from better commercial execution, acquired assets and recent product launches.”