J&J's Q3 net up to $3 bn on drug sales
Johnson & Jaohnson, the world’s biggest maker of medical devices, said third-quarter earnings rose 8.7% on increased sales of drugs, consumer products and implantable equipment.
By Agencies |
WASHINGTON: Johnson & Jaohnson, the world’s biggest maker of medical devices, said third-quarter earnings rose 8.7% on increased sales of drugs, consumer products and implantable equipment.
Net income climbed to $2.8bn, or 94 cents a share, from $2.5bn, or 85 cents, a year earlier, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement.
Profit excluding certain costs beat the average analysts’ estimate, and J&J raised its’06 forecast. Revenue jumped 7.9% on sales of the schizophrenia drug Risperdal, new versions of the Tylenol painkiller and Vistakon disposable contact lenses, J&J said.
It was the first period in which the company’s sales gained more than 7% since the ’05 second quarter, ending the longest such streak for J&J since 1998. “There still are going to be longer-term doubts about the top-line growth, but they seem to know how to manage their business and deliver steady earnings growth,” said an analyst.
Revenue in the third quarter reached $13.3bn, compared with $12.3bn a year earlier. Sales rose 7% last year after expanding at twice that rate the previous two years.
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Excluding costs related to acquisitions, the company said its third-quarter profit was 98 cents a share. Johnson & Johnson raised its earnings forecast for this year to $3.72 to $3.74 a share from $3.65 to $3.72. for 2005, J&J reported net income of $10.4bn, or $3.46 a share, on sales of $50.5bn.Sales of Cypher heart stents fell 6 % in the US and 3% in Europe and totaled $627m worldwide, company officials said on a conference call. The devices, tiny metal mesh tubes that prop open diseased blood vessels in the heart, accounted for 49% of the global market, J&J said.
Revenue from Risperdal rose 15 % to $1.07bn, while sales of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade, approved during the quarter for the skin disorder psoriasis, and jumped 24% to $776m.
Management held down increases in product and selling expenses, Nudell said. The cost of products rose to 27.5% of revenue from 27.2%, while selling, marketing and administrative expenses fell to 32.3% from 33.8%, J&J said.
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In June, J&J said it will expand its consumer products business by purchasing a Pfizer unit for $16.6bn, adding brands such as Sudafed cold medicine, Rolaids antacid and Listerine mouthwash to a lineup that already includes Pepcid heartburn pills, St Joseph aspirin and Cortaid anti-itch cream. The Pfizer unit had $3.9bn in ’05 sales and would expand annual revenue for J&J’s consumer operations to $13bn. The company’s 3.8 % note maturing in May ’13 fell 0.02 cent on the dollar to 92.61 cents on the dollar, and the yield rose to 5.1%, according to Trace, the bond price reporting system of the National Association of Securities Dealers.
Revenue from pharmaceutical products rose 7.8 % to $5.9bn in the quarter. Sales of consumer health products, including such items as Neutrogena skin care products and Tylenol and Motrin painkillers, jumped 10% to $2.46bn. Demand for medical devices climbed 7.1% to $4.95bn, J&J said.
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