During a conference call Thursday morning, Zimmer released its report for the first quarter of 2012.
Zimmer highlighted:
– Net sales of $1,141 million that represent an increase of 2.2 percent reported over the prior year period.
– Diluted earnings per share for the first quarter were $1.17 reported, an increase of 8.3 percent over the prior year period. The company’s first quarter ended March 31.
“Zimmer delivered year-over-year sales growth in all geographic segments and in most product categories in the quarter,” said David Dvorak, Zimmer president and CEO. “Looking forward, our new product introductions and progress in our transformation programs will enable the company to generate increased value to stockholders.”
Net earnings for the first quarter were $209.6 million on a reported basis and $231.3 million on an adjusted basis, an increase of 0.2 percent adjusted over the prior year period.
Operating cash flow for the first quarter was $207.4 million.
During the quarter, the company utilized $141.6 million of cash to acquire 2.3 million shares. At the end of the first quarter, $1.36 billion of share repurchase authorization remained available under the current program, which expires Dec. 31, 2014.
