Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Nobel Biocare Holding AG, the world's largest maker of dental implants, had a record fall in Swiss trading after third-quarter revenue declined and the company said it may not be able to meet its full-year guidance.

The stock plunged 7.62 Swiss francs, or 26 percent, to 21.38 francs, the steepest fall since it started trading on the SWX Swiss Exchange in March 1994, giving the Glattbrugg, Switzerland-based company a market value of 2.66 billion francs ($2.36 billion).

Sales fell 2.8 percent to 133 million euros ($181 million) and the slowdown ``will affect the company's ability to meet its full- year guidance,'' Nobel Biocare said after the close of trading yesterday. The company had forecast a revenue increase in the ``low single-digits'' and profitability on earnings before interest and taxation at the same level as in 2007. Nobel Biocare also cut its 2008 forecast in the first and second quarters.

``A profit warning is a catastrophe, because the trust in the company disappears,'' Sibylle Bischofberger Frick, an analyst with Zuercher Kantonalbank said in a telephone interview.

The share price decline is nonetheless ``not fundamental or logical'' because Nobel Biocare isn't predicting that performance will worsen dramatically from the second quarter, she said.

Revenue decreased 6.5 percent in North America and 5.2 percent in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Nobel Biocare will disclose detailed third-quarter results on Nov. 3.

Sales Drop

The company was on track to hit its goals until sales dropped in the last two weeks of September, Nobel Biocare spokesman Nicolas Weidmann said in a telephone interview. Economic uncertainty left customers unwilling to buy expensive dental implants, he said.

``As our product mix is exposed more to the more expensive treatments, and most of those treatments are paid out-of-pocket, are not covered by insurance, this is something you can postpone for a while,'' Weidmann said. ``In most cases it's not urgent, so you can decide to do the treatment a little bit later.''

Straumann Holding AG, the world's second-largest maker of dental implants, dropped 9.3 percent to 249.4 francs in Swiss trading.

Mark Hill, spokesman at Basel, Switzerland-based Straumann, said his company still sees long-term growth potential in the dental implant market because of low penetration and an increased consciousness about appearance. Hill said the company, which reports results on Oct. 30, believes it will be able to grow faster than the market.

``The economic downturn is affecting everybody,'' Hill said. ``Just exactly how much it affects dentistry is very difficult to say. When the economy goes down, if you lose a tooth, you're not likely to say, `Oh well, I think I'll just leave that.'''

-- With reporting by Antonio Ligi and Paul Verschuur in Zurich. Editor: Carey Sargent, Bruce Rule

To contact the reporter on this story: Naomi Kresge in Berlin nkresge@bloomberg.net; Antonio Ligi in Zurich at aligi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 10, 2008 12:30 EDT