interesting read boston scientific

Report: Jobs Cuts at Boston Scientific ( )
BOSTON, Oct 16, 2007 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Medical device maker Boston Scientific is preparing to slash thousands of jobs to counter slumping sales, according to a media report Tuesday.
Wall Street analysts who follow the company predict it will cut between 2,000 to 3,400 jobs, or about 7 to 12 percent of its work force of 28,000. The company has already cut 500 to 600 jobs this year.

"We will be reducing our expenses and head count to bring them in line with our revenue," Boston Scientific spokesman Paul Donovan told The Boston Globe. "These reductions will be part of our ongoing efforts to restore profitable growth, increase shareholder value, and strengthen Boston Scientific for the future."

The company has struggled with weak sales since early 2005 on its two key product lines: defibrillators and drug-coated stents. The implantable defibrillators, which help regulate the heart, have been hurt by a series of recalls. Sales of drug coated stents, metal tubes that are used to prop open arteries, have shriveled amid questions about their safety and benefits.

The company held $8.25 billion in long-term debt as of June 30. Much of the debt is from Boston Scientific's $27 billion acquisition last year of Guidant Corp., a company that has been mired in litigation.

Meanwhile, federal regulators in April lifted a quality-control warning about problems involving a Guidant plant that makes defibrillators and pacemakers - a step that enabled Boston Scientific to resume seeking approval for new devices to correct abnormal heartbeats. However, a separate Food and Drug Administration warning involving Boston Scientific's tracking of safety issues is still pending and is limiting the company's ability to introduce other types of products.

The company's stock has fallen 40 percent since the Guidant acquisition was announced in early 2006.

Jan David Wald, an analyst with Stanford Group Co. in Houston, said he thought the cuts would affect about 7 percent of Boston Scientific's overall work force.

Shares fell 29 cents to $14.74 in early trading Tuesday

- Interesting read.......shows that maybe VCR is doing it the right way, ie. perfect the product, because the worse case scenario is where your product gets recalled or found to have problems!