Aspect Posts Net Income Of $1.9 Million For Q1 2009

Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. (Aspect), an anesthesia and respiratory devices company, has reported total revenues of $25.3 million for the first quarter of 2009, up 4%, compared with the total revenues of $24.4 million in the year-ago quarter. It has also reported a net income of $1.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the net loss of $0.23 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Highlights of Q1 2009 Compared with Q1 2008

Sensor revenue increased 5% to $21.6 million

Installed base of monitor and module units grew 19% and exceeded 58,800

GAAP loss from operations was $61,000 compared with a loss of $141,000 in Q1 2008, and non-GAAP income from operations was $1.5 million compared with $1.8 million in Q1 2008

Non-GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.16 in Q1 2009 compared with $0.06 per diluted share in Q1 2008

Repurchased $7 million in face value of 2.5% convertible senior notes due 2014 at a discount, resulting in a $3 million gain and ending cash and investments of $76 million and convertible notes outstanding of $58 million

We were very pleased with the improvement in our operating margins in Q1. We substantially overachieved our goal for operating income in the quarter despite a difficult economic environment and we remain confident we will be able to continue to improve operating margins for the remainder of the year, said Nassib Chamoun, president and chief executive officer of Aspect.

On the revenue side, while international sensor revenue growth remained impressive at 17% compared with Q1 of last year, U.S. sensor revenue grew only 1% as hospitals continued to clamp down on spending. Despite this, we believe our U.S. sales force expansion was the right decision. At a time when hospitals are under significant financial pressure, our expanded sales force has helped us to stay close to our customers, to protect our existing business, and to encourage new customers to adopt. Moreover, as the findings from our ongoing research assessing the impact of anesthetic management on patient outcomes become public, and as new products are introduced, we expect that our expanded U.S. sales force will be in a great position to leverage these developments.