Medical, dental, and veterinary products supplier Henry Schein reported a 2.2% decrease in first-quarter sales, while first-quarter net income rose 8.4%, to $59.3 million, up from $54.7 million in the same period last year. For the three months ended March 28, Melville, NY-based Schein netted sales of $1.48 billion, down from $1.52 billion last year.
Dental sales declined 2.4%; medical sales declined 1.2%; international sales slipped 3%; and technology and value-added services sales increased nearly 4%.
“With market conditions largely as we expected during the quarter, we remain committed to managing expenses and delivering growth in diluted EPS from continuing operations,” company chairman/CEO Stanley M. Bergman said in a release. “Our operating margin, excluding restructuring costs, once again expanded, up 77 basis points for the quarter to 6.4%. This is primarily a reflection of effective expense management. We continue to have a very strong balance sheet with $308 million in cash at quarter-end, and access to capital at favorable terms.”