By Louise Rasmussen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Swedish medical gear maker Getinge said on Monday it faced additional quality and supply chain problems that would hit the group’s second-quarter profit and also impact the business for the rest of 2023, sending its shares down 16%.

Getinge expects problems faced in May and June to have a negative impact on its second quarter earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of around 400 million Swedish crowns ($37.4 million), it said.

The company had warned earlier this year of potential breaches in sterile packaging within its cardiopulmonary products, and said on Monday it also faced quality problems with equipment within its cardiac assist range.

Inventory that had to be scrapped due to packaging deficiencies made up the bulk of the second-quarter profit hit, Chief Executive Officer Mattias Perjos told analysts and reporters on a conference call.

For the remainder of 2023, there will be a negative impact on sales, product mix and earnings, while the company will also incur extra costs.

“It is not possible for us to guide for the rest of the year right now, but I think we will be able to gradually reduce the impact of these quality and supply shortages,” Perjos said.

“We don’t see any risks for other product areas being impacted by quality or supply chain shortages at the moment,” he added.

Measures to resolve the quality issues are expected to be completed by the end of this year or in the first half of 2024, Getinge added.

At the same time, component shortages for pumps have been ongoing since 2022 and are anticipated to be solved by the third quarter this year, it said.

Getinge will report second quarter earnings on July 18.

($1 = 10.7010 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)