Beckman Coulter Staying Even Over Last Year

Beckman Coulter Inc., Fullerton provider of medical instruments, reported first-quarter net income of $20.3 million, or 32 cents a share, which included a charge of $3.1 million for an accounting change. A year earlier, the company earned $21 million, or 35 cents a share.

Sales declined to $432.7 million, from $434.4 million, as a strong dollar trimmed sales growth overseas, the company said.

Beckman Coulter said it remains on track to achieve income growth of 13% to 15% for the year on sales growth of 5% to 7%.