By Chelsey Dulaney
Cardinal Health Inc. raised its outlook for its fiscal year
ending in June after the company posted forecast-topping results in
its December quarter.
Cardinal now expects to post $4.28 to $4.38 a share in earnings,
up from its previous guidance for $4.10 to $4.30 a share in
earnings.
"Although we experienced some continued challenges in the
Canadian market, we saw real progress in most of our business lines
and customer channels," said Chief Executive George Barrett in a
news release.
The Dublin, Ohio, company, which provides pharmaceuticals and
medical products, was dealt a blow in 2013 when the drugstore
chains that have since combined into Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
agreed to get their branded and generic pharmaceutical products
from rival AmerisourceBergen Corp. Drug wholesalers have been
forming ventures and collaborations with other health-care related
companies, in an effort to boost their bargaining power with
pharmaceutical companies and expand internationally.
Cardinal Health agreed to form a joint venture with CVS Caremark
Corp., in which the drugstore-operator and pharmacy-benefits
manager source generic drugs as consumers increasingly are using
the less-expensive medicines.
For its fiscal second quarter, the company posted a profit of
$289 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with $278 million, or
80 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, earnings
were $1.20 a share.
Revenue grew 15% to $25.5 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently projected earnings
of $1.10 cents a share on revenue of $23.5 billion.
Revenue in the company's pharmaceutical segment grew 16% to
$22.6 billion as it grew its existing and new customer bases.
The medical segment's revenue grew 4% to $2.9 billion, driven by
acquisitions and growth from existing customers.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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