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HEALTH care giant Johnson & Johnson yesterday reported a 30 percent jump in third-quarter profit, beating Wall Street expectations, due to higher sales of consumer products and medical devices in the quarter and a large restructuring charge a year ago.
The New Jersey-based maker of contraceptives, baby care items, medical devices and prescription drugs reported net income of US$3.31 billion, or US$1.17 per share, up from US$2.55 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 6.3 percent, to US$15.9 billion from US$14.97 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of US$1.11 and revenue of US$15.69 billion.
The higher consumer and medical device sales, mainly overseas, overcame flat sales of prescription medicines, and favorable currency exchange rates due to the weak dollar boosted total revenue by 3.1 percent.
Consumer product sales jumped 13 percent to US$4.1 billion, while revenue from medical devices and diagnostics increased 8.8 percent to US$5.7 billion. Pharmaceutical sales, though, edged up just 0.2 percent to US$6.1 billion and would have been down 2.5 percent if not for the boost from exchange rates.
"Johnson & Johnson continues to achieve solid earnings results despite the impact that generic products have had on our pharmaceutical business," William Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer, said.
The company raised its full-year profit forecast, to US$4.50 to US$4.53 per share, excluding one-time charges and other items. During the last quarter, it had forecast a profit of US$4.45 to US$4.50 a share.
For the first nine months, net income jumped 25 percent, to US$10.24 billion, or US$3.60 per share, up from US$8.2 billion.
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