Birtcher Medical Stock Slips on Lower 3rd-Quarter Profit Forecast

Birtcher Medical Systems Inc. has announced that its third-quarter earnings will be at least 40% lower than anticipated.

Birtcher’s stock, traded over the counter, fell $1 on the news to close at $12.75 a share the day after the announcement and was unchanged Monday.

The company blamed a shortfall in sales, which was a result of an unexpectedly long restructuring of its sales force after the acquisition of Georgia-based Solos Endoscopy Inc.

Birtcher, a manufacturer of electrosurgical devices, said last Thursday that it estimates that combined sales for the merged companies will be between $13 million and $13.5 million for the quarter ending March 31.

As a result, quarterly earnings are expected to be 8 to 10 cents a share.