Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday its third-quarter income beat Wall Street expectations by 2 cents despite a drop in revenue, as the company drastically cut expenses ahead of its planned split.
The North Chicago-based diversified health care company said net income rose to $1.94 billion, or $1.21 per share, up from $303 million, or 19 cents a share in the year-ago period, when it took a $1.4 billion charge for litigation over improper marketing of the anti-seizure Depakote.
Excluding some items, Abbott earned $1.30 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected adjusted earnings of $1.28 a share.
Sales declined slightly to $9.77 billion from $9.82 billion in the same quarter of 2011, falling short of analysts' estimate of $9.94 billion. Abbott attributed the drop largely to unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
Abbott shares closed Tuesday at $72.13, up more than 28 percent for the year. The increase has been driven in part in anticipation of its forthcoming split, in which the company will separate into two publicly traded entities.
Abbott Chief Executive Miles White said in a release that Abbott remains on track to complete the spinoff on Jan. 1, separating its portfolio of proprietary drugs, including Humira, into a new firm called AbbVie. The legacy Abbott will retain a range of products, from heart stents to baby formula and generic drugs.
Sales in emerging markets and its blockbuster drug Humira continued to surge.
ABT Revenue Quarterly Chart
ABT Revenue Quarterly data by YCharts
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