Covidien turns 3Q profit on medical device sales

NEW YORK - Medical device maker and diversified health care company Covidien Ltd. said Tuesday it turned a profit in the fiscal third quarter, compared with a loss a year ago, when it was part of conglomerate Tyco International Ltd. For the three months ended June 27, Covidien said it earned $269 million, or 53 cents per share. A year ago, as part of Tyco, the company said it lost $1.11 billion, or $2.23 per share. Revenue rose 14 percent, to just under $2.6 billion from $2.27 billion on strong international results and better sales in the medical devices business. The 2008 results included one-time costs of 12 cents per share from discontinued operations. Excluding those costs, Covidien said it earned 65 cents per share. On average, analysts expected 66 cents per share on $2.49 billion in revenue, according to Thomson... [read full story]