By Rob Curran
Henry Schein said it expects to report earnings and revenue growth in the fourth quarter and forecast further gains in 2025 adjusted earnings, even as it confirmed an activist-investment deal with private-equity firm KKR to work on unlocking more shareholder value.
In one immediate boon to shareholders, Henry Schein also boosted its share buyback program by $500 million.
The provider of drills, X-ray machines and other equipment to dentist and medical officers forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 74 cents a share. Stripping out certain one-off items, Henry Schein expects to report adjusted earnings of $1.19 a share. The company estimated fourth-quarter revenue would rise slightly to $3.2 billion.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, Henry Schein posted adjusted earnings of 66 cents a share on sales of $3.02 billion.
For 2024, Henry Schein expects to report earnings of $3.05 a share on revenue of $12.7 billion.
Looking out to 2025, the company projected adjusted earnings growth in the low-to-mid-single percentage digits.
The medical-supply company confirmed that New York leveraged-buyout firm KKR has acquired 12% of its common shares, and will work with the company on efforts to create shareholder value. As part of the deal, two KKR representatives with health-care expertise, Max Lin and William Daniel, will join Henry Schein's board. KKR will have the option to purchase additional shares to build a 14.9% stake in Henry Schein. Lin is a private-equity investor at KKR. Daniel was a longtime executive at health-care products maker Danaher.
Separately, Henry Schein named a new independent director, Robert Hombach. Hombach formerly served as chief operations officer and chief financial officer of biopharmaceutical firm Baxalta. He sits on the board of biotech firm BioMarin and has held executive positions at health-care conglomerate Baxter.
Shares of Henry Schein rose 3% to $78.50 premarket.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2025 08:13 ET (13:13 GMT)
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