St. Jude Medical Sees 2011 Sales Up 10%-13%

St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) said Wednesday it expects sales to rise 10% to 13% this year behind gains in all its medical-device product categories as it boosts its research and development spending.

The company projected 2011 sales in a $5.67 billion to $5.835 billion range during a conference call, above the $5.66 billion average forecast among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. This followed an earlier projected 2011 per-share earnings range, made in a press release, which was mostly below Wall Street expectations.

Chief Executive Daniel Starks noted the company is boosting its R&D spending next year, which will weigh on earnings, and he described a range of new products St. Jude is counting on to drive sales growth. While St. Jude isn't making official forecasts beyond this year, he said the company is "making good progress" to get back to consistent, double-digit sales growth on an organic basis, and excluding the impact of currency rates.

He said the company's forecast for this year is for 6% to 9% sales growth excluding currency and contributions from AGA Medical, acquired last year.

"We're increasing funding to accelerate the development programs" in the pipeline, Starks said.

The company earlier Wednesday reported an 8.9% rise in fourth-quarter earnings, with adjusted per-share results topping its most recent forecast. Sales were in line with a recent preliminary announcement.

St. Jude shares were inactive in premarket trading.

-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com

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