MetroWest495 Biz

MetroWest495 Biz | February 2015 5 Roundup United Medical deal completed United Medical Systems of Westborough and its parent firm have acquired a privately held lithotripsy company that provides services to kidney patients in Texas and Oklahoma, according to a statement from United. United, which specializes in transportable medical services, announced the acquisition of Litho of America, which provides services related to the treatment of kidney stones and benign prostatic hy- perplasia to more than 40 hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers in the two southwestern states. The price of the deal was not disclosed. Litho of America is based in Oklahoma City. SeaChange adds Asia operations chief Video software manufacturer SeaChange Inter- national of Acton, seeking more business in the Asia-Pacific region, has hired a market veteran to lead its operations on that side of the world, the company announced. Dave Ulmer has been named senior vice president and general manager for Asia- Pacific operations. He has held executive roles with several technology providers, such as SingTel, LG Electronics and Motorola, according to a statement from SeaChange. He has also served as vice chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum and an advisory board member for the Cable and Satellite Broadcast- ers Association of Asia. SeaChange announced it's cutting about 10 percent of its global workforce of about 750 in an effort to save about $11 million in its current fiscal year. Record-setting revenue for Cognex Machine sensor manufacturer Cognex Corp. of Natick experienced a "fabulous" year, according to Chairman Robert J. Shillman, with the company reporting a 22-percent increase in its fourth-quarter revenue compared with the fourth quarter of 2013. Cognex also set new annual records for revenue, net income, and earnings per share in 2014, according to the company's earnings report. The year-over- year growth in the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, was credited to the factory automation market. Sequential growth from the previous quarter faltered, with a decrease of 31 percent from the previous quarter. ReWalk revenue up 283 percent ReWalk Robotics of Marlborough reported a 283-percent jump in revenue, to $1.5 million, for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter in 2013. The rise resulted from higher place- ments of ReWalk robotic exoskeleton systems during the quarter, the company said. Thirty-six systems were placed in the quarter, compared with six for the quarter a year earlier. The skeletons help people with spinal cord injury walk. The company also reported that total revenue for 2014 increased to $4.0 million compared to $1.6 million in 2013. Higher revenue for drug-testing firm Acton-based employment drug testing company Psychemedics Corp. (NASDAQ: PMD) boosted revenue in fiscal 2014 by 9 percent on "strong new business growth," CEO Raymond Kubacki said in an earnings statement, but not necessarily because companies are hiring. "The largest category of gains have been in temporary help," Kubacki said. For the year, Psychemedics reported revenue of $29.2 mil- lion, up from $26.9 million in the previous year, and for the quarter, revenue totaled $6.8 million, versus $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Psyche- medics completed a project that more than doubled the company's capacity to accommodate expanding business, according to Kubacki. But he said earnings were negatively impacted as the company's plans to expand in Brazil were put on hold. Virtusa revenue climbs again Business consulting and technology outsourcing company Virtusa Corp. of Westborough reported another three months of double-digit percentage gains in revenue and net income for the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year. In its quarterly report, Virtusa said revenue grew 22 percent, to $123 million, over the third quarter of the 2015 fiscal cycle. Meanwhile, its net income, $11.8 million (41 cents per share), marked a jump of more than 26 percent. Operating income for the quarter grew only 20 percent. Com- pared with the revenue jump, that shows the com- pany operated more efficiently during the quarter. Losses for AMSC AMSC of Devens continued to lose money in the most recent fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31, despite increasing revenue over the previous year. The manufacturer of energy technology reported $21.3 million in third-quarter revenue, up from $20.6 million in the third quarter of 2013. The boost came from the wind energy segment, although that was partially offset by lower revenue in the grid segment, the company announced in its quarterly report. AMSC was also able to rein in its net losses, though it still lost $6.4 million in the third quarter. This was down from $8.7 million the previous year. BSX device sales spur gains Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) of Marl- borough saw sales improve in the fourth quarter and throughout 2014, thanks in large part to strong sales of the company's cardiovascular devices. Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $1.88 billion, up 3 per- cent over the third quarter of 2013. For the full year, BSX reported sales of $7.3 billion. That's compared with $7.1 billion in fiscal 2013. Results were in line with company guidance, and led to operating revenue growth of 7 percent for the quarter and 6 percent for the year. The company executed a turnaround last year after posting 2013 losses. Sevcon revenue rises Sevcon of Southborough saw a 10-percent gain in revenue in the first quarter of its new fiscal year, as more of its customers bought the company's products as part of their hybrid and electric vehicles. Sevcon, which makes microprocessor-based controls for those vehicles, said it generated $9.93 million in sales for the quarter, which ended Jan. 3. That's up from $9.05 million in the same quarter last year. The com- pany churned out profits of $171,000, down from $488,000 in the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal cycle. The report came on the same day Sevcon announced a deal with a large German manufacturer of trucks and buses to develop and supply controllers for a new line of integrated starter generators. Quest ahead of expectations for Q4 Quest Diagnostics, which recently opened an $80-million medical laboratory in Marlborough, slightly beat analysts' expectations for earnings in the fourth quarter of 2014. The Madison, N.J.-based company reported net earnings of $190 million for the quarter, which ended Dec. 31. Adjusted for one-time gains and costs, that amounted to $1.08 per share. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted $1.05 per share. Revenue from continuing operations was $1.88 billion, surpassing the $1.85 billion analysts had expected. The quarter- ly revenue was 7.2 percent higher than the previous year, CFO Mark Guinan said. EMC short on revenue expectations Data-storage giant EMC Corp. reported that it had closed the fourth quarter with a 12-percent in- crease in net income, but missed the mark on revenue expectations. Full-year profit, EMC predicted, will be $1.98 a share on sales of $26.1 billion. Analysts, though, had estimated earnings of $2.13 on revenue of $26.3 billion, Bloomberg reported. Revenue fell short of expectations in part because of shifts in cur- rency exchange rates because of a stronger U.S. dol- lar, the Hopkinton-based company said. In addition, the company will cut an unspecified number of jobs. According to iMarket Reports, a workforce reduction will be substantially completed by the end of the first quarter of 2015. Waters opens Beijing lab Milford-based Waters Corp., a manufacturer of laboratory instruments, announced the opening of its Joint Open Laboratory in Beijing. Outfitted with Waters' chromatography and mass spectrometry technologies, the analytic laboratory will be jointly operated by Waters and the Chinese Pharmaco- peia Commission (ChP), according to a company statement. It is expected to serve as one of China's national technical support centers in the field of Chi- nese pharmaceutical standards, Waters said. Waters reports sales growth Milford-based laboratory instrument manufac- turer Waters Corp. reported a 3-percent bump in sales for the fourth quarter and a 6.8-percent increase in net income as the company cited organic sales growth and demand from pharmaceutical companies for its products. Waters reported sales of $584 mil- lion, an increase of 19 million over the same quarter EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT METROWEST Staples seeks shareholders' say on merger Framingham-based Staples Inc. has is- sued a statement welcoming "constructive" dialogue with shareholders after activist investor Starboard Value urged a merger with office supplies competitor Office Depot. The Staples board "carefully considers all actions that would create shareholder value and is committed taking actions that are in the best interest of all of the company's sharehold- ers," the statement read. Starboard Value sent the letter to Staples CEO Ronald Sargent, demanding that he begin working a deal with Office Depot, its smaller competitor. "We believe that now is the right time to pursue such a transaction," the letter read. s page 6

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