Abbott Laboratories posts flat 3rd-quarter profit due to hefty costs, Guidant unit buyout

Health care products company Abbott Laboratories reported virtually flat third-quarter profit Wednesday as costs from the buyout of Guidant Corp.'s vascular stent business offset a 14 percent rise in revenue.

The company earned $717 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $715.8 million, or 46 cents per share, during the same period last year. Excluding one-time items, the company said it earned 67 cents per share in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $6.38 billion from $5.57 billion a year ago, largely driven by strong global pharmaceutical sales, which climbed nearly 20 percent. The company's top-selling drug Humira, which treats Crohn's disease among other ailments, saw worldwide sales grow nearly 49 percent to $803 million.

Meanwhile, medical product sales grew 12 percent and nutritional sales grew about 4 percent.

The results beat consensus estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who expected adjusted profit of 66 cents per share on revenue of $6.24 billion. Thomson estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Abbott shares were up $1.53 to $53.50 in premarket trading.

"Abbott's strong performance this quarter was again balanced across our major broad-based businesses," Chief Executive Miles White said in a statement. "We expect this momentum to continue."

North Chicago-based Abbott also raised the low-end of its full-year guidance, forecasting profit between $2.82 and $2.84 per share, up from previous estimates of $2.80 to $2.84. The outlook excludes about 44 cents per share in costs, including charges from its 2006 acquisition of a Guidant unit from Boston Scientific Corp. as well as cost-cutting initiatives and inventory writedowns.

Wall Street analysts have been predicting full-year earnings of $2.82 per share.

For the first nine months of the year, Abbott earned $2.4 billion, or $1.54 per share, up from $2.2 billion, or $1.43 a share in 2006. Revenue was $18.7 billion, up 15 percent from $16.26 billion in 2006.

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