SYDNEY--Cochlear Ltd. lifted its dividend after record sales of its hearing technology helped drive an 18% increase in annual underlying profit.
The ASX-listed implant maker on Friday reported an underlying net profit for the 12 months through June of 277.0 million Australian dollars ($191.5 million), compared with A$236.7 million in the previous year. The increase was 10% on a constant-currency basis.
Fiscal 2022 revenue rose by 10% to a record A$1.65 billion, buoyed by strong demand for acoustic implants and sound-processor upgrades. Statutory profit fell 11% to A$289.1 million, reflecting almost A$90 million in one-off gains in the prior period.
The board of directors declared a final dividend of A$1.45 per share, up from A$1.40.
The average analyst forecast had been for an underlying profit of A$285 million on revenue of A$1.64 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet. Cochlear had guided for an underlying profit of between A$265 million and A$285 million.
Cochlear expects an FY 2023 underlying profit of between A$290 million and A$305 million, which it said would represent an increase of between 8% and 13% when adjusted for expenses related to cloud-computing. It expects underlying profit margin excluding cloud costs to stay flat at 18%.
FY 2023 net profit will be weighted toward the second half as trading conditions progressively improve through the period, it added. It sees annual capital expenditure of A$80 million and will keep paying out 70% of underlying net profit as dividends.
Guidance doesn't include the A$170 million acquisition of Oticon Medical, which Cochlear announced in April and expects to complete before the end of December.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
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