Baxter announced Thursday that second-quarter sales from medical products surged 24 percent year-over-year to $2.5 billion, boosted partly by “strong” sales of injectable drugs and anaesthetics. The company’s overall revenue grew 16 percent to $4.3 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $4.1 billion, while net income reached $520 million, versus $590 million in the year-ago period.
Overall sales were hit by charges of $172 million, related in part to the integration of Gambro, which the company acquired in September last year, the recall in the US of the Spectrum Infusion Pump as well as the planned separation of its biotechnology operations into a separate company.
CEO Robert L. Parkinson remarked that the company has made “marked progress towards our separation into two leading healthcare companies,” remaining “on track to complete the separation by mid-year 2015.” Parkinson added “we are driving solid performance across our entire business portfolio, and advancing care across our key franchises in both developed and emerging markets.”
Baxter said that for the full year, it now expects sales growth of 10 percent to 11 percent, versus an earlier estimate of 9 percent to 10 percent. Earnings are forecast to be in the range of $5.10 per share to $5.20 per share, revised from a previous prediction of $5.05 per share to $5.25 per share, with analysts expecting per share earnings of $5.15.