RPT-UPDATE 1-China's Mindray sees rev, net growing over 40 pct
(Repeats item first sent on Jan. 24)
* sees annual sales, earnings up 40 pct in next three years
* to double overseas staff by year-end
* evaluating potential acquisition targets (Adds quotes, details)
By Sophie Taylor
SHANGHAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - China's leading maker of medical devices, Mindray Medical International Ltd (MR.N), expects its top and bottom line to grow annually by at least 40 percent over the next three years, maintaining its track record, its chairman said on Thursday.
To keep up with this growth, Mindray -- which is pursuing an aggressive international expansion plan -- aims to double its overseas sales staff to over 300 by the end of this year, Xu Hang, who is also co-chief executive, told Reuters.
The push overseas -- the company is already in other Asian markets, Europe and North America -- brings Mindray up against the likes of General Electric Co (GE.N), Germany's Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) and Philips (PHG.AS).
Mindray, whose overseas revenues made up just under half its total in 2006, expects mergers and acquisitions to become another growth driver in future, Xu said in a phone interview.
"Historically, our growth has been done organically, and we have yet to make a one-time acquisition," he said, adding: "We have no fixed timeframe for making an acquisition, but we have been evaluating a number of targets."
Branding efforts, fast expansion into large overseas markets and robust healthcare spending by regional governments in China would help drive sales, Xu said.
"When considering any potential acquisition overseas, we will look at strengthening our sales channels, technology and branding," he said.
Besides monitoring devices, the company's production lines in China also turn out diagnostic instruments and ultrasound imaging systems.
Mindray said in a preliminary operating results release that its 2007 net revenue grew around 44-45 percent to about 2.2 billion yuan ($302 million), beating 40 percent net revenue growth in 2006.
Net income grew 53.6 percent to 58.4 percent last year, according to the preliminary report, compared with growth of 51 percent in 2006. ($1=7.225 yuan) (Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
