Johnson & Johnson's net earnings has taken quantum jump of 59 per cent during the third quarter ended September 2014 and touched to $4,749 million as against $2,982 million in the corresponding period of last year. Its worldwide sales of pharmaceutical, medical devices & diagnostic and consumer healthcare improved by 5.1 per cent to $18,467 million from $17,575 million. EPS improved to $1.66 from $1.04.
Its worldwide pharmaceutical sales moved up by 18.7 per cent to $8,307 million from $7,036 million. However, sales of medical devices & diagnostics declined by 4.6 per cent to $6,571 million from $6,928 million. Its consumer healthcare segment sales improved by dropped by 0.6 per cent to $3,589 million from $3,611 million.
During the quarter the company completed the divestiture of the Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics business. The third-quarter results included a net gain for after-tax special items of approximately $0.5 billion, driven by an after-tax net gain of approximately $1.1 billion from the divestiture of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics. This gain was partially offset by other special items primarily related to an increase in the litigation accrual, a charge to account for an additional year of the non-tax deductible Branded Prescription Drug Fee in accordance with final regulations issued in the third quarter by the Internal Revenue Service, integration costs related to the acquisition of Synthes, Inc. and programme costs associated with the DePuy ASR Hip.
“Our strong third-quarter performance reflects the continued success of our new products and the strength of our core business. We are making deliberate portfolio choices, positioning us well for achieving our near-term priorities and our long-term growth drivers,” said Alex Gorsky, chairman and chief executive officer. “I am proud of our colleagues around the world who are focused everyday on delivering solutions to address the evolving health care needs.”
In July, J&J announced a share repurchase programme of up to $5.0 billion of the company's common stock. Repurchases may be made at management's discretion from time to time on the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The repurchase program has no time limit and may be suspended for periods or discontinued at any time.
The company increased its earnings guidance for full-year 2014 to $5.92 - $5.97 per share. The company’s guidance excludes the impact of special items.
The strong sales results were driven by new products and the strength of our core products. New products include Olysio/Sovriad (simeprevir), for combination treatment of chronic hepatitis C in adult patients; Xarelto (rivaroxaban), an oral anticoagulant; Invokana (canagliflozin), for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes; Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), an oral, once-daily medication for use in combination with prednisone for the treatment of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer.
For the nine months period ended September 2014, J&J's sales increased by 5.9 per cent to $56.1 billion from $ 53 billion in the similar period of last year. Its net earnings increased by 33.8 per cent to $13.8 billion from $10.3 billion. Its Pharmaceutical sales improved by 16.7 per cent to $24.2 billion from $20.8 billion and pharmaceutical sales in US increased by 25.8 per cent to $13.1 billion from $10,4 billion. Its sales of medical devices and diagnostics declined slightly by 1.5 per cent to $20.9 billion from $ 21.2 billion. Its R&D expenditure moved up by 1.5 per cent to $5,859 million from $5.772 million.