Invacare global sales dip in Q3 offset by rising profitability & strong powered mobility performance
Reporting the results of its third quarter of trading, Invacare has revealed that despite a fall in sales globally compared to the same period in 2018, the company’s profitability significantly improved.
The multinational mobility and healthcare equipment manufacturer reported net sales of $235.8 million, a decrease of 3.6 percent compared to 2018’s $244.6.
In spite of the decrease in sales, the company’s gross profit increased by 3 percent to $67.6 million in 2019 against 2018’s $65.6 million, with gross profit as a percentage of net sales growing to 28.7%.
The improved profitability resulted in an operating income of $2.4 million in the quarter, a considerable $7.7 million improvement in comparison to the previous year’s $5.3 million loss.
Praising the continued progress of Invacare’s enhanced transformation and growth plan strategy which it announced in February 2019, Matt Monaghan, Invacare’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, emphasised the company’s improved performance in North America.
In stark contrast to Q3 in 2018, which saw an operating loss of $11.3 million, 2019 saw its operating loss fall sharply to $1.7 million, a $9.6 million improvement in just 12 months.
“I’m pleased with the continued and significant progress we have made in our transformation, which is reflected in our operating results,” he commented.
The improvement across the pond follows Invacare’s announcement in July 2019 that it was importing talent from the European side of its business to turnaround its struggling North American operations, alongside laying off 75 across both North America and Europe.
In addition to acknowledging the North American transformation, Matt also pointed out the multinational’s strong performance in the powered mobility segment.
“Importantly, revenues and profits for powered mobility products grew globally as we continued to focus on providing great solutions at the right margins, and while the respiratory business continued at a lower level of sales, margins for this unit continued to improve,” he stated.
According to the quarterly report, sales of mobility and seating products were up in Europe and slightly in North America, however, these increases were offset by decreased sales of lifestyle and respiratory products in both regions.
With mobility and seating products proving to be the dominant segment in its portfolio, Matt highlighted a number of new innovations Invacare released during Q3, confirming its development teams are working on a full lineup of new products across the business for 2020.
“This quarter, we again launched industry firsts in manual mobility with technology that allows us to produce manual wheelchairs with significantly higher performance without increased weight,” he described.
“In addition, we introduced a remarkably well-performing standing positioning system on our centre-wheel drive power wheelchair, which gives patients the clinical and social benefits of vertical position.”
Aiming to continue executing its transformation plan and focus on improving profitability, Invacare says it is on track to meet its financial targets for 2019 and 2020.
