Gish Biomedical Earnings Drop 10%; Sales Up 5%

Gish Biomedical Inc., a manufacturer of critical-care and surgical devices, said Thursday that its earnings fell 10% for its year ended June 30 because of expenses as the company prepares to move its operations. Annual sales were up 5%.

Jeanne Miller, chief financial officer, said the company plans to move by January from a 70,000-square-foot facility in Santa Ana to Irvine, where it will have more than twice as much room--150,000 square feet.

“We’re experiencing a lot of growth,” Miller said.

But preparations for the move caused profit to sag for both the fiscal year and the company’s fourth quarter. Miller said the company took a onetime charge of $421,500, part of which was to settle its current lease agreement.

Profit for the fiscal year was $1.7 million, or 54 cents a share, compared to earnings of $1.9 million, or 59 cents a share, for the previous year. Sales, however, rose to $21 million from $20 million.

Fourth-quarter earnings also reflected costs associated with the Irvine move, the company reported. Profit came to $360,000, or 11 cents a share, compared to $550,000, or 18 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 18% to $6.3 million.

Jennifer Black Groves, executive vice president at the brokerage Black & Co. in Portland, Ore., said Gish’s new product, the Orthofuser, was responsible for increased sales during the latest quarter. The device recycles blood during orthopedic surgery.

She said a handful of other surgical products expected to receive federal approval soon could propel the company’s annual sales to $26 million next year.

“This company has a great little track record,” Black Groves said.

Gish, which is traded on the NASDAQ market, closed Thursday at $9 a share, down 38 cents.