Australia's Sonic Healthcare posts 6%

Global medical diagnostics company Sonic Healthcare Ltd on Tuesday reported an interim net profit of 143 million AU dollars (153.65 million U.S. dollars) for the half year to Dec. 31, 2011, a 6 percent increase over the corresponding period in the prior year. The Australian-based company said the result was achieved on the revenue of 1.64 billion AU dollars (1.76 billion U.S. dollars). Sonic's Chief Executive Officer Colin Goldschmidt said the company's operations continued to perform strongly despite being in a time of global uncertainty and weak economic conditions. He said the Australian division was performing exceptionally well even though it had opened fewer collection centers than its competitors. Goldschmidt said the result of Sonic's pathology operations in Germany was a standout performer with margin improvement of more than 150 basis points. Sonic's other European pathology operations also performed strongly during the first-half. But Goldschmidt said the company's U.S. laboratory business had been impacted by the weak U.S. economy. He said ongoing headwind from the strong Australian dollar had softened Sonic's results but did not affect its underlying business performance. The company said it was on track to achieve its full-year guidance of 10 to 15 percent earnings growth. Shares in Sonic closed on Tuesday at 11.38 AU dollars (12.23 U. S. dollars), up 2.06 percent.