Becton Dickinson Beats By Two Cents

Profits were down and sales were flat:

Medical-device maker Becton Dickinson and Co. said Tuesday its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 5.4 percent on a legal charge and lower sales.
For the quarter ended March 31, Becton Dickinson earned $261.3 million, or $1.06 per share, down from $276.2 million, or $1.09 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell less than 1 percent to $1.74 billion from $1.75 billion.
Excluding legal charges to settle an antitrust case, the company said it earned $1.18 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of $1.16 per share on revenue of $1.76 billion.
Sales in the company’s medical segment fell 3 percent to $897 million while sales in the diagnostics segment rose 2 percent to $540 million. Biosciences unit sales rose 3 percent to $304 million. Overall U.S. sales fell 1 percent and foreign sales were flat as the stronger U.S. dollar cut into those markets.
The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook for an earnings-per-share boost of 9 percent to 11 percent. Based on the company’s 2008 earnings from continuing operations of $4.46 per share, the guidance projects a 2009 profit of $4.86 to $4.95 per share. Analysts polled expect a 2009 profit of $4.94 per share.

Posted by on April 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am


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