ABT Abbott Laboratories

By Austen Hufford 

Abbott Laboratories Inc. on Wednesday posted foreign-currency driven revenue declines in its latest quarter, though it also raised its annual guidance and said it saw constant-currency gains across all of its segments.

Overall revenue fell 0.2% while operational revenue, which factors out currency changes, increased 5.1%.

For the year, Abbott said it expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.14 to $2.24, up from previous guidance of $2.10 to $2.20, which was sharply below analysts' expectations at the time.

Abbott shares rose 1.2% to $44.37 in premarket trading. Shares have risen 9.7% in the last three months.

For the quarter, the company posted a profit of $316 million, or 21 cents a share, down from $2.29 billion, or $1.51 a share, a year earlier. The year-prior period included a $1.74 billion gain from an asset sale. Excluding that and other items, earnings per share were 41 cents, down from 47 cents a year prior.

Revenue decreased to $4.89 billion from $4.9 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast adjusted per-share earnings of 39 cents on revenue of $4.78 billion.

Sales edged up 0.1% in its nutrition segment, its largest. Recently launched infant and toddler GMO-free baby food and formula and premium baby formula products in China drove a 4.3% increase on a constant-currency basis.

In its diagnostics unit, sales increased 2.3% nominally and 6.9% on a constant-currency basis as gains in its infectious disease testing business were offset by the planned scale down of its genetics business.

In its non-U. S. established pharmaceuticals unit, sales fell 1.0% but gained 11% when excluding currency fluctuations. Performance was lead by India where it had double-digit growth across several areas, including women's health, gastroenterology, and cardio-metabolics.

Sales in its medical devices segment fell 2.4% but grew 0.5% in constant-currency. The company said "competitive and market dynamics" lead diabetes treatment sales in the U.S. to plummet 32%.

In March, Abbott said its Absorb dissolving heart stent received a positive review from a Food and Drug Administration panel, paving the way for potential approval in the U.S. later this year. It also recently received approval in Europe to use a technologically improved blood sugar monitoring system in children and teens.

In a call with investors Wednesday, Chief Executive Miles D. White raised a potential setback in a previously announced deal to acquire diagnostic-test company Alere Inc. In February, Abbott said it would acquire the company for $5.8 billion in a deal to make it a leading provider of point-of-care testing. Wednesday, Mr. White declined to affirm his commitment to complete the acquisition.

Alere Inc. is grappling with foreign corruption probes. In a March securities filing, Alere said it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a foreign corruption investigation over payments in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2016 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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