Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings, helped by sharply lower taxes and a return to solid growth for its array of medicines, medical devices and consumer products. But the diversified healthcare company, which is traditionally conservative in its outlook, provided a 2010 profit forecast range that barely reached Wall Street projections. Its shares fell 1 percent.
J&J on January 26 said its fourth quarter profit fell to $2.2 billion, or 79 cents per share, compared with $2.71 billion, or 97 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, including an $852 million restructuring charge, J&J earned $1.02 per share. Analysts on average had expected 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Company sales rose 9 percent to $16.55 billion, well above analyst predictions of $15.7 billion. By contrast, third-quarter sales fell 5.3 percent. Fourth-quarter pharmaceutical division sales rose 5.4 percent to $5.99 billion, medical device and diagnostic unit sales increased 11.8 percent to $6.31 billion and consumer product sales rose 10.2 percent to $4.25 billion.
J&J, which is known for making conservative forecasts, predicted a full-year 2010 profit of $4.85 per share to $4.95 per share excluding items. Analysts have expected $4.94 per share.
J&J's profit jumped almost 10 percent in 2008, but grew only 1.8 percent last year as the recession crimped sales of many products and its blockbuster schizophrenia drug Risperdal was derailed by cheaper generics.