E-Z-EM has new president, lower earnings

Former ALI Imaging Systems president Anthony L. Lombardo has joined contrast agent manufacturer E-Z-EM in its top spot. The Westbury, NY-based company’s board of directors elected Lombardo president and CEO this month.

Lombardo brings 28 years’ experience in the medical imaging industry to E-Z-EM. At GE, he was general manager of its PACS business, launching GE Integrated Imaging Solutions. In addition to ALI, Lombardo has held top positions in global management at Philips, Sony, and Loral.

E-Z-EM manufactures contrast agents and related products for gastrointestinal radiology.

Lombardo is the first permanent president E-Z-EM has had in two years. After Daniel Martin left the company in 1998, board chairman Howard S. Stern stepped in as interim president. Stern is a cofounder of the company.

In the third quarter of this year (end Feb. 26), E-Z-EM reported net earnings of $516,000 on net sales of $25.7 million. This is compared to net earnings of $1.82 million in the previous quarter. The company reported net earnings of $959,000 on net sales of $26.6 million in the third quarter of 1999.

Stern attributed the sales drop to lower sales demand, resulting, in part, from distributors stocking higher inventory levels in the second quarter in anticipation of possible Y2K-related supply issues.

Net earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2000 were $4.1 million on net sales of $81 million. For the same period in 1999, the company reported net earnings of $3.9 million on sales of $78.8 million.

Results for the third quarter were down because of reduced sales in the company’s diagnostic segment, company officials said.

Those losses were partially offset by increased sales of E-Z-EM’s AngioDynamics subsidiary. AngioDynamics manufactures angiography, therapeutic, and coronary medical devices. At the same time E-Z-EM announced these results, the company’s board of directors authorized additional funding for a common stock repurchase program. The company will use $2 million for the repurchase of up to 500,000 shares of Class A and B common stock.

This will allow E-Z-EM to repurchase stock at attractive prices while enhancing shareholder value, Stern said.