Abbott Laboratories has reported strong growth in net profit during the third quarter ended September 2009 on account of higher sales of Humira. The company's net profit increased by 36.5 per cent to US$ 1,480 million from US$ 1,085 million in the corresponding quarter of last year. Its net sales increased by 3.5 per cent to US$7,761 million from US$ 7,498 million. The diluted earnings per common share worked out to US$ 0.95 as against US$ 0.69 in the last period.

"Abbott is performing well, generating higher-than-expected earnings growth in the third quarter," said Miles D White, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "During the quarter, we announced several acquisitions that support our long-term growth strategy. These acquisitions add to our diverse mix of global businesses, with new technologies, established products and emerging market infrastructure that will help us deliver sustainable industry-leading growth. In particular, the acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals will further diversify our global pharmaceuticals business."

For the first nine months ended September 2009, the net sales increased by 1.8 per cent to US$ 21,975 million from US$ 21,577 million in the similar period of last year. Its net earnings went up by 25.8 per cent to US$ 4,207 million from US$ 3,344 million in the last period.

Based on the company's continued strong results year to date, Abbott has raised its ongoing earnings-per-share forecast for the full-year 2009 to US$ 3.70 to US$ 3.72 from its previous guidance range of US$ 3.65 to US$ 3.70.

Its international pharmaceutical operational sales increased 15.1 per cent, excluding an 11.3 per cent negative impact from exchange. Internationally, operational growth for Humira was 41.5 per cent, with reported sales of US$ 791 million, in line with our previous expectations. International anti-TNF market growth trends remain strong, and Humira maintains a market-leading position in many of the international markets, including the number one share position in Western Europe.

US pharmaceutical sales increased 3.9 per cent, excluding the expected decline of Depakote sales due to generic competition, which reduced reported US pharmaceutical sales growth by 10.5 per cent points.

US pharmaceutical sales were led by Humira, which increased 21.3 per cent to US$ 700 million. Underlying demand for Humira remains strong across all three major indications. Given the performance of Humira year-to-date, we're raising our global Humira forecast to 28 to 30 per cent operational sales growth for the full-year 2009, excluding the negative impact of foreign exchange (18 to 20 per cent reported sales growth).