DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

12 Months Ended

Mar. 30, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Haemonetics is a global healthcare company dedicated to providing innovative blood management solutions for our customers — plasma collectors, blood collectors, and hospitals. Anchored by our strong brand name in medical device systems for the transfusion industry, we also provide information technology platforms and value added services to provide customers with business solutions which support improved clinical outcomes for patients and efficiency in the blood supply chain.

Our systems automate the collection and processing of donated blood; perform blood diagnostics; salvage and process surgical patient blood; and dispense blood within the hospital. These systems include devices and single-use, proprietary disposable sets that operate only on our specialized equipment. Our manual blood collection and filtration systems enable the manual collection of all blood components while detecting bacteria, thus reducing the risks of infection through transfusion. Our blood processing systems allow users to collect and process only the blood component(s) they target — plasma, platelets, or red blood cells — increasing donor and patient safety as well as collection efficiencies. Our blood diagnostics system assesses the likelihood of a patient’s blood loss allowing clinicians to make informed decisions about a patient’s treatment as it relates to blood loss in surgery. Our surgical blood salvage systems collect blood lost by a patient in surgery, clean the blood, and make it available for reinfusion to the patient, in this way giving the patient the safest blood possible — his or her own. Our blood distribution systems are “smart” refrigerators located throughout hospitals which automate the storage, inventory tracking, and dispositioning of blood in key blood use areas.

Our information technology platforms are used by blood and plasma collectors to improve the safety and efficiency of blood collection logistics by eliminating previously manual functions at not-for-profit blood centers and commercial plasma centers. Our platforms are also used by hospitals to enable hospital administrators to monitor and measure blood management practices and to manage processes within transfusion services. Our information technology platforms allow all customers to better manage processes across the blood supply chain, comply with regulatory requirements, and identify increased opportunities to reduce costs.

On November 30, 2012 the Company completed a two-for-one split of the Company's common stock in the form of a stock dividend. Unless otherwise indicated, all common stock shares and per share information referenced within the Consolidated Financial Statements have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the stock split. The exercise price of each outstanding option has also been proportionately and retroactively adjusted for all periods presented. Par value per share and authorized shares were however not affected by the stock split.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements present separately our financial position, results of operations, cash flows, and changes in shareholders’ equity. All amounts presented, except per share amounts, are stated in thousands of U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

The Company considers events or transactions that occur after the balance sheet date but prior to the issuance of the financial statements to provide additional evidence relative to certain estimates or to identify matters that require additional disclosure. Subsequent events have been evaluated, and these financial statements reflect those material items that arose after the balance sheet date but prior to the issuance of the financial statements that would be considered recognized subsequent events. Refer to Note 19 - Subsequent Events for further information.