Cardiac Surgery Sales Lift Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences Corp., benefiting from double-digit sales growth in its cardiac surgery product line, posted strong earnings gains for the fourth quarter.

The Irvine company, which makes products to treat cardiovascular disease, also said it expects earnings to increase 20% this year.

For the fourth quarter, Edwards said it earned $15.9 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with pro forma net income of $9.3 million, or 16 cents a share, for the same quarter last year.

Sales dropped 10% to $187.4 million. The company attributed the decline primarily to the divestiture of the company’s Novacor and Bentley product lines.

The company reported a net loss of $280.9 million, or $4.81 a share, for the year, contrasted with profit of $41.2 million, or 70 cents a share, for the prior year, Sales were down 4% to $775 million.