MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vascular Solutions, Inc. today reported that based on preliminary unaudited numbers, net sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 ending December 31, 2005 were $8.85 million, an increase of 32% over the fourth quarter of 2004.
Howard Root, Chief Executive Officer of Vascular Solutions, commented: “While we see substantial annual growth in our sales across nearly all of our product lines, net sales during the end of the fourth quarter were less than the sales estimates prepared at the beginning of December by our sales management. Part of this shortfall was the result of several bulk orders for our D-Stat Dry being deferred by customers into 2006. In addition, our German sales subsidiary underperformed in the fourth quarter in relation to their previous sales estimates, an issue that we are currently addressing. Finally, while we are very encouraged by the clinical successes we’ve seen with our new Pronto V3 catheter, our manufacturing team was not able to ramp up production as quickly as forecasted in the fourth quarter, resulting in backorders for the Pronto V3 throughout December.”
“Looking forward, we continue to expect to see substantial sales growth into and throughout 2006. Sales in 2006 are expected to benefit from our recent ramp in manufacturing capacity for the Pronto V3 together with the planned launch of new products such as the Skyway and TwinPass catheters in the first quarter. While forecasting specific sales numbers with our rapidly growing product portfolio has always been difficult, we continue to believe that strong growth of between 25% to 40% in annual sales in 2006 will occur,” Mr. Root concluded. Full financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2005, together with forecasts for the first quarter and full year of 2006 are expected to be announced after the close of trading on Thursday, January 26, 2006.
About Vascular Solutions
Vascular Solutions, Inc. is a medical device company that focuses on developing unique solutions for unmet clinical opportunities within Interventional radiology and Interventional cardiology. New products introduced since the second half of 2003 include the Vari-Lase(R) endovenous laser product line for the treatment of varicose veins, the D-Stat Dry(TM) hemostatic bandage for the rapid control of topical bleeding, the Pronto extraction catheter for the mechanical extraction of soft thrombus and the Langston(TM) dual lumen catheter for the measurement of aortic stenosis. The Company’s other major products include the Duett(TM) sealing device to rapidly seal the puncture site following catheterization procedures and the D-Stat(R) Flowable hemostat for the local management of active bleeding.
The information in this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Important factors that may cause such differences include those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and other recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the need for adoption of our new products, limited working capital, lack of profitability, exposure to intellectual property claims, dependence on key vendors, exposure to possible product liability claims, the development of new products by others, doing business in international markets, limited manufacturing experience, the availability of third party reimbursement, and actions by the FDA.
For further information, connect to http://www.vascularsolutions.com .
Vascular Solutions, Inc.
CONTACT: Howard Root, CEO, or James Hennen, CFO, both of VascularSolutions, Inc., +1-763-656-4300
Web site: http://www.vascularsolutions.com/
