Siemens Healthineers confirms outlook despite problems at Varian

(Reuters) -U.S.-German medical device maker Siemens Healthineers on Wednesday confirmed its outlook despite an unexpected drop in quarterly operating profit over diminishing COVID-19 test demand and delivery delays at cancer treatment specialist Varian.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 3% to 740 million euros ($812.59 million) in the third quarter, below the 773 million euros expected by analysts according to a consensus provided by the company.

Revenue was 5.2 billion euros for the quarter, in line with analysts’ expectations, while comparable revenue growth came in slightly above consensus, at 3.6%, leading the company to stick with its outlook for comparable revenue change of between -1% and 1% in fiscal 2023.

However, Siemens Healthineers lowered its outlook for Varian’s adjusted operating profit margin to 14-15% from a previous 16-18% on “temporary challenges in outbound logistics”.

For the quarter, Varian’s profit dropped by nearly a third, to 102 million euros, with the margin also falling by 6 percentage points to 12.1% from the same period last year.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)