Becton Dickinson 4Q Net Jumps 12% On Higher Sales
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Becton Dickinson & Co.'s (BDX) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 12% as
sales were helped by growth in the company's medical and diagnostics businesses.
Becton has been largely immune to the recession and concerns about hospital-
spending cutbacks, as many of its products are basic essentials such as surgical
blades and catheters.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company reported earnings of $317.2
million, or $1.29 a share, up from $282.2 million, or $1.12 a share, a year
earlier. Earnings from continuing operations climbed to $1.25 from $1.11.
Revenue jumped 4.7% to $1.9 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of $
1.25 on $1.85 billion in sales.
Gross margin rose to 51.9% from 51.4%.
The company's medical segment--by far its largest--had an 8% increase in
sales, and its diagnostics segment had a 5% jump. But the biosciences business
saw revenue drop 5%, nearly all due to currency changes.
Looking ahead, Becton expects adjusted earnings from continuing operations for
the new fiscal year to rise as much as 3% from the latest year's $4.95 a share,
with sales increasing about 6%. Analysts expected earnings of $5.09 on 6%
revenue growth to $7.56 billion.
Shares closed at $69.91 Tuesday and didn't trade premarket. They are up just
2.2% this year.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-04-090722ET
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