Abbott Labs 1st-qtr 2011 sales jump 17% but profits down 14% on acquisitions and restructuring

US health care major Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, showing that net income declined 14% to $864 million. Diluted earnings per share, excluding specified items, were $0.91, reflecting 12.3% growth. Diluted earnings per share under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) were $0.55, including costs associated with acquisition integration, cost-reduction initiatives and acquired in-process R&D.

Operating income dropped 11.5% to $1.3 billion from $1.47 billion as the company recorded after-tax charges of $81 million, or $0.05 a share, in the quarter, associated with the acquisition of Solvay. Worldwide sales increased 17.4% to more than $9 billion, including a favorable 1.3% effect of foreign exchange, which was driven by double-digit growth in each of Abbott's three major business categories. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings per share of 90 cents on revenue of $8.82 billion.

Durable Growth Business sales increased 24.3%, driven by strong sales growth for Established Pharmaceuticals sales growth, including the contribution from the Solvay Pharmaceuticals and Piramal Healthcare Solutions acquisitions, which grew to nearly $1.3 billion and International Nutritionals sales growth of 15.8% to $1.42 billion. Proprietary Pharmaceuticals sales increased 11.7%, including strong performance across several major global brands.