Invacare's Monaghan: 'We remain confident in (our) earnings potential'

ELYRIA, Ohio - The overall picture at Invacare looked better in the first quarter of this year, but the North America/HME business unit continues to struggle.

Approaching the one-year mark since its consent decree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was lifted last July, Invacare reported net sales of $237.1 million for the first quarter, compared to $231.7 million for the same period last year, a 2.3% increase. It still reported a net loss, but $14.1 million vs. $16.8 million.

“We acknowledge that market share gains take time and we're pleased with the early results of our commercial investments and enhanced product portfolio,” Matt Monaghan, chairman, president and CEO, told investors. “We remain confident in the earnings potential of the business and our ability to achieve our strategic goals.”

For NA/HME, Invacare reported net sales of $79.8 million for the first quarter of this year, compared to $84.3 million for the same period last year, a 5.3% decrease. The company blamed the decline on decreases in sales for respiratory and lifestyle products, partially offset by increases for mobility and seating products.

Addressing slow sales for respiratory products, Monaghan said Invacare is working to build awareness of its portfolio, especially its Platinum Mobile Oxygen Concentrator with O2 Connectivity Platform.

“Probably the biggest future need is just name recognition,” he said. “There are some big players out in the marketplace with brand name recognition at the product level and that drives probably a differential. We intend to do more to make sure that customers are aware of our brand.”

Mobility and seating continued to be a bright spot in the first quarter, despite a number of hiccups, including changes in the workforce that caused “a little bit of disruption” and a “decent backlog” coming out of the fourth quarter of 2017, Monaghan said.
“We see further growth ahead of us,” he said. “I think we look forward to this portfolio continuing to accelerate in 2018 and beyond.”