Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) eked out a 1.1% increase in
third-quarter profit despite generic competition for several former
big sellers pushing revenue below expectations.
But earnings beat Wall Street's views, prompting the
health-care-products maker to boost its 2009 target to $4.54 to
$4.59 a share. The prior target, first given in January and
repeatedly affirmed since, was $4.45 to $4.55.
Still, shares fell 2% premarket to $61.25.
J&J's effort to counter drug-patent expirations led to its
recent $885 million purchase of an 18% stake in Elan Corp.
(ELN).
J&J, whose products range from Band-Aids to the Procrit
anemia drug, said profit rose to $3.35 billion, or $1.20 a share,
from $3.31 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 5.3% to $15.08 billion, with 2.5 percentage points
of the decline coming from currency changes. U.S. sales fell 8.1%.
International sales dropped 2.5%, but rose 2.4% on a
constant-currency basis.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of
$1.13 a share on revenue of $15.22 billion.
Drug sales remained a laggard, falling 14% on the impact from
generics. That included a 19% drop in the U.S. The declines
included antipsychotic Risperdal and epilepsy and migraine
treatment Topamax, both of which lost patent exclusivity in the
past year.
The latest quarter saw the formerly fast-growing consumer
health-care unit post a 2.7% sales drop; excluding currency changes
it would have reported 1.1% growth.
The device unit, which includes contact lenses and diabetes test
strips, saw sales rise 2.3%; excluding currency impacts, unit sales
rose 4.1%.
Drug-coated stent sales remained weak, falling 7.2% to continue
a trend from recent quarters amid increased competition in the U.S.
Revenue slumped 10% domestically. J&J late last month said it
wrung a $716 million payment from Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) to
settle more than a dozen stent patent-infringement lawsuits, most
of which will be recorded in the fourth quarter.
-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2330;
mike.barris@dowjones.com
