Henry Schein beats quarterly profit estimates on lower costs

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(Reuters) – Dental products distributor Henry Schein beat third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday, as a series of cost-saving measures helped counter tepid demand and slow recovery from a cyberattack it disclosed in October last year.

The company, which supplies products such as dental implants and personal protective equipment (PPE), had faced disruptions in manufacturing and distribution units after the cybersecurity breach, which caused it to take some of its systems offline.

The results “showed strong cost discipline in the face of a tough operating environment,” Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a note.

The company raised the lower end of its adjusted annual profit per share forecast to $4.74 from a prior view of $4.70, while maintaining the upper end at $4.82.

Analysts on average expect its annual profit to be $4.75 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Henry Schein said it is on track to meet its goal of saving $75 million to $100 million by the end of next year as part of a restructuring plan announced in August.

The company recorded $48 million in restructuring costs in the quarter ended Sept. 28.

Its third-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $1.22 per share, beating estimates of $1.17.

However, its quarterly revenue of $3.17 billion missed estimates of $3.24 billion, hurt by lower sales of PPE and slow recovery from the cyberattack.

Sales at its dental unit, which supplies implants and tooth-whitening products, among other items, came in at $1.85 billion, below expectations of $1.89 billion.

Henry Schein’s selling, general and administrative expenses came in at $724 million, compared with expectations of $796.61 million.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)