Smith & Nephew - Challenges being addressed

Smith & Nephew’s (S&N) FY17 revenues of $4.77bn and trading profit of $1,048m were slightly below consensus estimates despite a strong Q4, which saw a reported 5% y-o-y growth. EPS exceeded consensus estimates. S&N’s emerging market business retained its star billing for growth across all its geographies. A core focus of the business now appears to be improvement via the newly named, but broad-ranging APEX cost reduction and efficiency programme. Last year’s announcement on the retirement of its CEO seems to have taken on a slow and steady route to CEO transition, with the high-level commitment, involvement and execution on the APEX programme.