Patterson reports lower dental sales for Q3

Patterson Companies reported lower sales in its dental segment for the third fiscal quarter of 2017.

For the quarter (end-January 29), the publicly traded company announced an overall slight decrease of 0.2% in sales to $1.4 billion, compared with the same period during the previous fiscal year.

However, net sales in the company's dental segment, which represented approximately 45% of total company sales, were $626.3 million, down 1.8% from the same quarter during the previous year.

Within the dental segment, sales of consumable dental supplies decreased 2.8% and equipment sales declined 1%, which the company said reflected strong performance in core equipment offset by weaker performance in technology products. Other services and products, primarily composed of technical service, parts and labor, software support services, and office supplies, decreased by 1.3%.

Patterson reported net income from continuing operations of $27.8 million for the fiscal third quarter, compared with $57.2 million during the quarter a year earlier. As previously announced, the third quarter results included a pretax noncash impairment charge of $36.3 million related to the company's decision not to extend sales exclusivity for the full Sirona portfolio of products and the distribution fee associated with the Cerec product component.

Through expanding its dental product portfolio, the company is in a better position to serve a wider range of customers and clinical environments, according to Scott Anderson, the chairman, president, and CEO of Patterson Companies.