Sales for M’tronic slump 6 percent

Memphis-based Medtronic Spine, a division of Dublin-based medical device maker Medtronic Plc, Thursday reported a 5.8 percent decline in global revenue for the first quarter.

For the quarter that ended July 29, the division reported revenue of $645 million, compared with $685 million a year ago.

Medtronic Spine has a global workforce of about 5,600, including about 1,300 in the Memphis area.

“While our global revenue overall was flat, we were pleased that the Core Spine business in the U.S. grew in the low-single digits,” Doug King, Medtronic Spine president, said.

“Our strategy is producing tangible results, as we not only launch a strong cadence of new products, but do so with sufficient quantities of instrument sets to supply the market,” King said. “This has reinvigorated our sales force, resulting in strong adoption of newer technologies while producing a halo effect on the growth of our legacy product lines.”