Australia’s Cochlear Hits a Three-Month High on Strong Yearly Earnings

Aug 15 (Reuters) – Shares in Cochlear (COH.AX) hit a more than three-month high on Tuesday after the Australian hearing implant maker posted a 4% rise in full-year profit as it wiped out a pandemic-triggered backlog of surgeries for the year.

Cochlear, whose shares are the second most expensive in Australia, rose as much as 7.9% to A$251.6 million after reporting a statutory net profit of A$300.6 million ($194.97 million). for the year ended June 30, slightly above A$289.1 million. year before

Clinical capacity constraints due to the pandemic, which has overwhelmed healthcare systems globally, leveled off during the first half and much of the remaining COVID-19-related surgical backlog was eliminated during fiscal year 2023.

“We assume that Oticon’s cochlear implant business will not contribute to earnings initially, as it is currently loss-making, but will gradually improve with different ownership,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

The company expects the strong earnings momentum to continue into fiscal 2024, with underlying net profit of A$355-375 million.

But this guidance does not take into account any impact of the proposed takeover of Oticon Medica, which Britain’s competition regulator in April saying could hurt the market.

($1 = 1.5418 Australian dollars)

Reporting from Navya Mittal in Bangalore; Edited by Rashmi Aich

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