Abbott has notched up strong growth in sales and earnings during the third quarter ended September 2008 driven by double-digit growth in its leading brands viz., Humira, TriCor, Niaspan and Kaletra. The company's net earnings went up sharply by 51.3 per cent to $1,085 million from $717 million in the corresponding period of last year. The earning per share touched to $ 0.69 as against $ 0.46.

Its worldwide sales increased by 17.6 per cent to US$ 7,498 million during the third quarter of 2008, of which US sales accounted for $ 3,683 million, growth of 17.9 per cent. Its total pharmaceutical sales increased by 16.7 per cent to $ 4,121 million. Research and development expenditure went up by 6.2 per cent to $680 million from $ 640 million.

Abbott's maintained the growth in first nine months ended September 2008 and its net profit jumped by 39.2 per cent to $3,344 million from $2,403 million in the similar period of last year. Its net sales increased by 15.4 per cent to $21,577 million from $18,693 million. Its US sales moved up 9.2 per cent to $10,135 million and US pharmaceutical sales increased by 8.3 per cent to $ 5,957 million. The sales of Humira increased sharply by 50.3 per cent during the first nine months and reached at $3,170 million. Similarly, sales of Kaletra went up by 14.9 per cent to $1,095 million.

Miles D White, chairman and CEO, said, "All businesses are performing exceptionally well, ahead of expectations. Abbott remains well-positioned, with strong core growth franchises, including our emerging vascular business, which is rapidly becoming a significant contributor to Abbott's growth."

The Board of Directors has recently approved a new $5 billion share repurchase program. Last year, Abbott returned more than $ 3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase, and is on track to exceed this level in 2008. Based on the strong results year-to-date, and the outlook for the remainder of the year, the company has raised its earnings-per-share forecast for the full-year 2008 to $ 3.31 from $3.24-$3.28, excluding specified items. Abbott's original guidance range for 2008, provided in January, was $3.20--$3.25.