German medical company Fresenius sees fourth quarter net income rise 32 percent

Fresenius Q4 net income up 32 percent

FRANKFURT — German medical company Fresenius SE said Wednesday that its fourth quarter net income increased by 32 percent, thanks in part to a strong rise in North American revenue.

Fresenius said it earned euro155 million ($209 million) in the October-December period, compared with euro117 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Revenue rose 4 percent to euro3.7 billion from euro3.6 billion. North America reported a 16 percent year-on-year increase.

Fresenius, based in Bad Homburg, provides products and services for hospital and outpatient care and specializes in dialysis treatments.

Fresenius said it expects group revenue to grow between 7 and 9 percent in 2010 and net income to be between 8 and 10 percent higher than last year.

The main Fresenius Medical Care division reported a 4 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income to euro167 million, on revenue of euro2.1 billion.

The Fresenius Medical Care division, which has a separate stock market listing but is part of Fresenius SE, provides kidney-specialized products and services.

The results and outlook pushed Fresenius SE shares up more than 3 percent, before they settled back to euro46.78 — a 1.7 percent gain. Fresenius Medical Care shares were nearly 4 percent higher at euro38.50 in Frankfurt afternoon trading.

“Fresenius took full advantage of its business opportunities in the past year,” Chief Executive Ulf Mark Schneider said.

“Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, we have met or even exceeded our earnings guidance for 2009,” he added, crediting a well-diversified portfolio and the company’s global presence.

The company said it would propose raising its dividend 7 percent to euro0.75 per ordinary share. It will be the company’s 17th consecutive dividend payment increase.

The key Fresenius Medical Care unit’s net income came in 3 percent and its revenue 1 percent above consensus estimates, Bernstein analysts wrote in a research note.

“We rate Fresenius Medical Care at ‘Outperform’ with a euro45 price target,” they said. “We are positive on Fresenius for several reasons and we continue to believe that markets are not pricing in all the positives for the stock.”

Bernstein said the positives include a new billing scheme and performance-related payments in the dialysis market.

On the Net:

www.fresenius.de

www.fmc-ag.com