COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 24 -- Spectranetics Corp. announced that revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2000, totaled $6,662,000, an increase of 64 percent over the $4,070,000 reported in the same quarter last year. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations, revenue rose 67 percent over results for the first quarter of 1999. The company said the growth in revenue was led by a 93-percent increase in lead removal sales; by a 32-percent increase in laser coronary angioplasty revenue; and by a 229-percent increase in equipment revenue.
We are very pleased with the robust revenue growth achieved during the first quarter, historically our weakest quarter of the year, said Joseph A. Largey, president and CEO of Spectanetics. We doubled the number of field sales representatives in 1999 and are beginning to see the benefits of a more aggressive sales effort. We placed 15 lasers during the first quarter, up from 3 lasers placed in the same quarter last year and significantly higher than anticipated. Our strong growth in lead removal sales reflects our success in combining the Spectranetics Laser Sheath with the newly released Lead Locking Device. The two devices combined create an unrivaled system for removing damaged or infected pacemaker or defibrillator leads and have been well received by the market.