By Tess Stynes
Abbott Laboratories said its fourth-quarter earnings soared as
the company posted stronger revenue in its nutrition and
diagnostics businesses, although currency fluctuations weighed on
sales growth.
Abbott has been realigning its business in a series of deals.
Last year Abbott reached an agreement to shed a portion of its
generics pharmaceuticals business to Mylan Inc., a transaction that
punctuated a recent trend of health-care mergers-and-acquisitions
driven in part to seek tax advantages.
Abbott's other moves last year included its acquisition of
Russian drug maker Veropharm, a $250 million deal to acquire
medical-device maker Topera Inc and a deal to sell its animal
health business to Zoetis Inc.
Overall, Abbott reported a profit of $905 million, or 59 cents a
share, up from $589 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, earnings rose to 71 cents from 58 cents. Revenue
increased 5.6% to $5.36 billion, but excluding currency
fluctuations, sales grew by 10%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit
of 68 cents and revenue of $5.42 billion.
Excluding currency impacts, sales rose 8.9% in Abbott's
nutrition segment and increased 8.6% in the diagnostics
business.
For the current quarter, the company projected per-share
earnings of 41 cents to 43 cents, while analysts expected 41
cents.
For 2015, Abbott forecasted per-share earnings of $2.10 to
$2.20. Analysts expected per-share profit of $2.14.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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