Zimmer Holdings, which makes dental implants and a variety of medical products, reported a year-over-year decline in net dental sales for 2009. For the fourth quarter (end-December 31), the company reported $57 million in net sales of dental products, the same as in the fourth quarter of 2008, but a 4% decline in constant currency.
For the 12-month period, Zimmer reported $205 million in net sales, down 10% from 2008 (8% in constant currency).
"A weak global economy continues to adversely affect market demand for dental implants," said President and CEO David Dvorak in a conference call. "For the quarter, dental sales in Asia-Pacific increased 11.5% but were more than offset by slower sales in the Americas and Europe. Our dental business is performing inline with the market. We continue to believe the dental market will rebound as the global economy recovers, and we look forward to new opportunities as our product line is expanded through internal and external development efforts."
In response to a question, Dvorak said that the market for the company's dental products "has been hit the hardest by the economic recession because of the form of payment."
Dvorak said he could not disagree with a comment that Zimmer had lost a little market share to its competitors in the dental market.
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