Baxter International 1st-quarter profit rises 43 percent on strong sales, improved margins

Baxter International Inc. said Thursday that it posted better than expected earnings in the first quarter due to strong sales of vaccines and treatments for hemophilia and immunodeficiencies.

Net income grew 43 percent to $403 million, or 61 cents per share, from $282 million, or 43 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 11 percent to $2.68 billion from $2.41 billion last year, driven by a 22 percent increase in sales of biotech products to $1.1 billion.

The result beat the company's own forecast for a profit of 54 cents to 56 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 55 cents on revenue of $2.55 billion.

Shares of Baxter rose 82 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $55.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gross margins improved 3.6 percentage points to 47.3 percent from a year ago.