Hologic posts $2 billion loss for 09

Hologic has reported a net loss of $2.18 billion for its 2009 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 26. In addition, the firm's board of directors has replaced Jack Cumming with Robert Cascella as CEO.

Hologic's net loss of $2.18 billion for the year represents a steep slide for the Bedford, Mass.-based imaging developer, compared with its fiscal 2008 net loss of $385.6 million.

The company's year-end results were impacted by a $2.34 billion charge for the impairment of goodwill relating to reporting units acquired from diagnostic and surgical product device developer Cytyc. An additional $273 million was charged to the year relating to the amortization of intangibles and operating charges.

The firm's fiscal 2009 sales showed a 2.2 percent downturn over the the prior year, with $1.64 billion booked for the current period, compared with revenues of $1.67 billion in 2008.

According to Hologic, the revenue decrease was primarily attributable to a year-over-year decline in sales of its Selenia full-field digital mammography (FFDM) systems.

Fourth quarter sales also took a beating, down 9 percent to $402.8 million, compared with revenues of $442.5 million for the same period last year. There was one bright spot in the 2009 financial--the company booked a net profit of $34.9 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $144.4 million for the fiscal 2008 fourth quarter.

Cumming will stay on as chairman of the board and a member of the executive management team, Hologic said.

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