J&J profits fall, medical device sales up for Q3
Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) third-quarter profits fell 7.7 percent on costs associated with recent layoffs, while its sales jumped 12.7 percent on a big acquisition and favorable currency-exchange rates.
Third-quarter sales rose 12.7 percent to $14.97 billion from $13.29 billion a year earlier. The strongest sales growth came from J&J's consumer segment, which posted a 47.5 percent increase to $3.62 billion. Much of the gain came from the December 2006 acquisition of Pfizer's consumer-health business.
J&J's third main segment, medical devices and diagnostics, had sales of $5.25 billion, up 6 percent from a year earlier. But J&J's Cordis division, which makes the Cypher drug-coated stent, posted another weak quarter because sales fell 21 percent to $777 million. Cypher's U.S. sales fell 44 percent to $185 million, and sales outside the U.S. fell 40 percent to $190 million.
Third-quarter sales rose 12.7 percent to $14.97 billion from $13.29 billion a year earlier. The strongest sales growth came from J&J's consumer segment, which posted a 47.5 percent increase to $3.62 billion. Much of the gain came from the December 2006 acquisition of Pfizer's consumer-health business.
J&J's third main segment, medical devices and diagnostics, had sales of $5.25 billion, up 6 percent from a year earlier. But J&J's Cordis division, which makes the Cypher drug-coated stent, posted another weak quarter because sales fell 21 percent to $777 million. Cypher's U.S. sales fell 44 percent to $185 million, and sales outside the U.S. fell 40 percent to $190 million.