Nov 19, 2003
Guidant Updates Investors During Annual Investor/Analyst Conference in New York

Company Reiterates Guidance for 2003; Previews 2004 Full-Year Revenue and Earnings

New York - Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT), a world leader in the treatment of cardiac and vascular disease, will host its previously announced Investor/Analyst Conference in New York City today, Wednesday, November 19, from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The meeting will be hosted by Guidant''s President and CEO Ronald W. Dollens and will feature a review of current and future business opportunities, including an update on the company''s drug eluting stent programs, cardiac rhythm management therapies and market development efforts. Guido J. Neels, group chairman, Office of the President, Guidant, will moderate the session and provide an overview of future opportunities. The company also will outline its financial guidance for 2004.

Cardiac Rhythm Management Therapies

Fred McCoy, president, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Guidant, will discuss the company''s leadership role in shaping cardiac rhythm management markets, and will share Guidant's strategy to deliver sustainable growth in these markets over the long term. Joseph M. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer, Cardiac Rhythm Management, will discuss the growing body of clinical evidence contributing to increased adoption of implantable defibrillator therapies. Arthur J. Moss, M.D., University of Rochester Medical Center, and principal investigator for the MADIT II Trial, will present a summary of the recently announced MADIT-CRT trial, exclusively sponsored by Guidant. Mark Bartell, president, U.S. Sales Operations, Guidant, will provide an overview of initiatives designed to increase acceptance of device-based therapies among physicians and patients.

Drug Eluting Stent Program

Dana G. Mead, Jr., president, Vascular Intervention, Guidant, will provide an overview of the company''s progress in its drug eluting stent program. Mead will outline clinical and regulatory strategies for Guidant''s first everolimus eluting stent, the CHAMPION(tm) Drug Eluting Stent System. He also will announce strategies for next-generation drug eluting stent products. Campbell D. K. Rogers, M.D., director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and assistant professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women''s Hospital, will describe the CHAMPION Drug Eluting Stent System''s drug, polymer and stent technology, and will outline the clinical strategy for the product.

Financial Guidance

Keith Brauer, vice president, finance, and CFO, Guidant, will reiterate previously provided financial guidance for the fourth quarter of this year of $920-$960 million in revenue and earnings per share of $0.55-$0.60. For the full-year of 2003, Brauer will reiterate revenue projections of $3.68-$3.72 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $2.36-$2.41. Related GAAP earnings per share for the full year, including previously reported special items, would be $1.28 - $1.33.

During the meeting, Brauer will outline full-year 2004 financial guidance of $3.75-$3.95 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $2.40-$2.55. He will also preview Guidant's long-term financial outlook.

Guidant provides earnings per share guidance on an adjusted basis from continuing operations because Guidant's management believes that the presentation provides useful information to investors. Among other things, it may assist investors in evaluating the company's operations period over period - which is also the basis on which it generally is most reasonable to forecast results. This measure may exclude such items as business development activities (including purchased in-process research and development (IPRD) at acquisition or upon attainment of milestones), strategic developments (including restructurings and product line changes) and significant litigation. Special items may be highly variable, difficult to predict, and of a size that sometimes has substantial impact on the company's reported operations for a period. Often, prospective quantification of them is not reasonable. Based on existing business development arrangements, the company anticipates that it may record a charge to earnings of up to approximately $0.20 earnings per share ($65 million of net income) of IPRD special items in 2004 based primarily on the potential attainment of various milestones in the development of drug eluting stents during the year. The company continues to evaluate business development opportunities, which may generate additional IPRD charges, and other special items may arise. Further, because the company provides guidance for continuing operations, guidance does not reflect matters classified as discontinued operations. Management uses these measures internally for planning, forecasting and evaluating the performance of the business, including allocating resources and evaluating results relative to employee performance compensation targets. Investors should consider non-GAAP measures in addition to, not as a substitute for, or as superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Webcast Information

A live webcast of Guidant''s conference is accessible through Guidant''s website at www.guidant.com/webcast or at CCBN's individual investor center at www.fulldisclosure.com. The webcast will be archived on both websites for future on-demand replay.

Broadcast Coverage

Later today, Dollens is scheduled to appear on CNNfn''s "Street Sweep."

Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for better life today to millions of cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of more than 11,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life''s most threatening medical conditions. For more information visit www.guidant.com.

This release includes forward-looking statements concerning financial guidance as well as product and market development. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, such as market trends and competition, including growth rates and new market entrants in key product areas like defibrillators and stents; the reimbursement environment; satisfactory clinical and regulatory progress, particularly with respect to clinical trials relating to DES; any new business development activities, including milestones and acquisitions that may result in IPRD; economic conditions, including exchange rates; litigation developments; and the factors listed on exhibit 99 to Guidant''s most recent 10-Q. As such, they involve risks that could cause actual results to differ materially. The company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.

System requirements for the webcast include Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or higher). Users also should have the most recent version of Windows Media Player, which can be downloaded for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/. Users may experience varying levels of performance based on their connection speed, system capabilities and presence of a corporate firewall. To ensure a connection, users should go to the program five to 15 minutes before its start.