J&J Q2 Results Top Estimates, Boosts 2015 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Health care giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported Tuesday a profit for the second quarter that increased four percent from last year, despite negative currency effects, reflecting strength of its rheumatoid arthritis drugs Remicade and Simponi in the U.S.

Adjusted earnings per share and quarterly revenues topped analysts' expectation. The company also raised earnings forecast for the full-year 2015.

"Our solid sales and earnings results in the quarter reflect the strong underlying growth we're seeing across the enterprise. Our diverse portfolio and scale are enabling this performance, and we've continued to invest in building a robust enterprise pipeline that will drive our growth over the long term," Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said.

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based maker of Listerine antiseptic mouth-rinse, Acuvue contact lenses and Band-Aids reported net earnings of $4.52 billion or $1.61 per share for the second quarter, higher than $4.33 billion or $1.51 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter was $4.81 billion or $1.71 per share, compared to $5.13 billion or $1.78 per share in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, operational net earnings per share, as adjusted, was $1.90, compared to last year's 1.78.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.68 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales to customers for the quarter decreased 8.8 percent to $17.79 billion from $19.50 billion in the same quarter last year, but topped fourteen Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $17.75 billion by a whisker. Operational sales edged down 0.9 percent and the negative impact of currency was 7.9 percent.

Excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures, operational worldwide sales increased 1.7 percent, domestic sales edged up 0.6 percent and international sales improved 2.7 percent. Additionally excluding hepatitis C sales, underlying operational growth worldwide was 5 percent.

Domestic sales decreased 2.4 percent year-over-year to $8.91 billion, and international sales also declined 14.3 percent to $8.88 billion from last year, reflecting operational growth of 0.5 percent and a negative currency impact of 14.8 percent.

European sales declined 17.9 percent, as well as Asia-Pacific and Africa sales decreased 6.4 percent from the year-ago quarter. Sales for Western Hemisphere, excluding the U.S., declined 19.4 percent from last year.

The company's consumer product sales declined 7.0 percent to $3.48 billion, with domestic sales increasing 2.7 percent, while international sales declined 12.2 percent.

Pharmaceutical sales were $7.95 billion, down 6.6 percent from the prior year, hurt by a 7.5 percent sales drop of rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade to $1.67 billion. Total domestic sales decreased 1.5 percent, and international sales declined 12.7 percent.

The company's sales from medical devices declined 12.2 percent from last year to $6.36 billion, with a 5.8 percent drop in domestic sales and a 17.3 percent decline in international sales.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, the company raised adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $6.10 to $6.20 per share from the prior forecast range of $6.04 to $6.19 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to report full-year 2015 earnings of $6.14 per share.

JNJ closed Monday's regular trading session at $100.27, up $0.22 on a volume of 6.97 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $95.10 to $109.49.