By Tess Stynes
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported an 8.6% decline in
first-quarter profit and reduced its 2015 per-share earnings
outlook amid increased pressure from a strong U.S. dollar and
weaker sales of hepatitis C drug Olysio.
The health-care giant's shares, down 3.3% over the pasty three
months, rose 0.2% to $100.70 in recent premarket trading.
For the year, J&J lowered its per-share earnings estimate to
a range of $6.04 to $6.19, citing further negative effects from
currency movements, below its previous estimate for per-share
profit of $6.12 to $6.27.
The New Brunswick, N.J., company said foreign-exchange rates had
a negative impact of 7.2%, compared with a negative impact of 4.5%
during the fourth quarter.
J&J last month lost out to AbbVie Inc. in the pursuit of
drug maker Pharmacyclics Inc., with which J&J co-markets the
cancer drug Imbruvica. While J&J was unsuccessful, the
company's involvement signals that it is open to using its huge
cash pile to pursue deals, so investors likely will be watching for
information about executives' merger-and-acquisitions strategies on
the conference call.
J&J also has been aiming to shed slower-growth businesses
such as its sale of its Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics unit last year
and the pending divestiture of its Cordis heart-products
business.
The company's sales have been driven by newer drugs such as
diabetes drug Invokana, blood-thinner Xarelto and psoriasis
treatment Stelara. However, J&J faces the threat of increased
competition in the U.S. from lower priced biosimilar versions of
its blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Remicade.
Olysio sales, meanwhile, reached $98 million in the U.S.,
above--below the $291 million reported a year earlier and $256
million in the fourth quarter. Hepatitis C drug Olysio was a big
sales driver for J&J last year, but the company has been
expecting the drug's sales to drop off as the result of growing
competition.
Overall, J&J reported a profit of $4.32 billion, or $1.53 a
share, down from $4.73 billion, or $1.64 a share, a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, per-share earnings were $1.56 in the
latest quarter.
Revenue decreased 4.1% to $17.37 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
$1.54 and revenue of $17.31 billion.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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