Nobel Biocare reports record growth
The world's leading dental implant maker Nobel Biocare has reported a 69 per cent increase in full-year net profit to €154.7 million (SFr240 million).
This was at the higher end of expectations for the Zurich-based firm, partly due to an aggressive marketing campaign in the United States.
Revenues at Nobel grew 25 per cent last year to €484.5 million and sales are expected to increase by a further 24 per cent in 2006, a company statement said.
“We outgrew even the most aggressive overall market growth estimates by about four to six per cent,” Nobel Biocare CEO Heliane Canepa said.
The board of directors will propose a dividend per share of SFr3.50 at the company AGM in Zurich in May.
Nobel’s competitor Basel-based Straumann will release its 2005 figures next week.
Sweden settled
Shares in Nobel rallied this week after Swedish authorities on Tuesday said they had found no reason to withdraw a company dental implant product from the market.
Two senior professors at Gothenburg University had last year criticised the implant, called NobelDirect, claiming it caused too much bone loss.
But the Swedish Medical Products Agency said that its decision was based on data it had received from Nobel which showed that results for the implant were comparable to conventional implants.
The Swedish agency noted that data cited by the Gothenburg University scientists differed “significantly” from the rest of the Nobel study, of which it was a part.
In a related development, Nobel on Wednesday announced it would establish its own subsidiaries in Moscow and the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, by acquiring the sales operations from the existing distributor, The Chicago Center for Advanced Dentistry.
A statement from Nobel’s headquarters in Zurich gave no figure for the deal.
swissinfo with agencies
2005 figures:
Revenue €484.5 million (2004: €388.4 million), up 24.8%
Net profit €154.7 million (2004: €91.6 million), up 68.9%
Earnings per share €6.05 (2004: €3.58)
Nobel Biocare is the world’s biggest dental implant maker, with headquarters in Zurich and Gothenburg, Sweden.
Production takes place at four sites located in Sweden and the US and Nobel has some 1,650 employees.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.