Thoratec Names Keith Grossman President, CEO; Sees Q3 Revenues Below View

(RTTNews) - Thoratec Corp. (THOR), a provider of device-based mechanical circulatory support therapies, Monday announced that Keith Grossman has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Grossman succeeds Gary Burbach, who has stepped down from his executive and Board roles but will remain as an advisor to the company through the first quarter of 2016.

Grossman has served for 30 years in a variety of relevant healthcare industry roles, including as President and CEO of Thoratec from 1996 to 2006. He has continued to serve on Thoratec's Board since that time. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Conceptus, Inc., a provider of women's health medical devices.

During Grossman's tenure at Conceptus, the company restored positive growth in both sales and profitability, and the company's market value approximately tripled, culminating in a sale to Bayer Healthcare LLC.

In its financial updates, the company said it expects third quarter revenues to be in the range of $102 million to $107 million.

On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect revenues of $109.54 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company expects to incur a pre-tax charge in the third quarter, related to incremental warranty expense, of up to $11 million.

This is related to Thoratec's release of the updated version of the Pocket System Controller. The company is allowing centers and patients to upgrade their existing controllers to this latest version and is offering to provide replacement controllers upon request.

The company said its outlook depends primarily upon customer response, which was not contemplated in previous guidance.

The company will also provide an update to its full-year 2014 financial guidance when it reports third quarter results.