Smith & Nephew hurt by tough markets in China and Gulf states

 08-Feb-17, Yahoo! Finance 

Smith & Nephew, Europe's biggest manufacturer of artificial hips and knees, reported a 7 percent drop in full-year trading profit, as tough conditions in China and Saudi Arabia kept growth in check. The company has focused on emerging markets in recent years to boost sluggish demand in the United States and Europe, where it competes with Zimmer and Stryker.

Image: Smith & Nephew

However, a slowdown in China has been compounded by destocking by distributors, the company said, while trading in the oil-dependent Gulf states had been "very difficult". Smith & Nephew reported revenue up 2 percent on an underlying basis at USD4.67 bn.

Chief Executive Olivier Bohuon said the company had delivered growth, but not at the level it had wanted. Bohuon said he expects growth to improve in 2017.

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