Abbott Laboratories reported record sales and earnings for the second quarter and first half, prompting Duane Burnham, the company`s new chairman and chief executive officer, to predict a 19th consecutive record year in both categories.
Second-quarter earnings rose 13 percent, to $240 million, or 55 cents a share, from $212 million, or 48 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 14 percent, to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion.
For the first half, earnings rose 13.3 percent, to $465 million, or $1.06 a share, from $411 million, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales were up 12.5 percent, to $2.9 billion from $2.6 billion.
More significant than the ”gratifying” second-quarter economic results, said Burnham, were North Chicago-based Abbott`s international launches of two new anti-infective drugs, clarithromycin and tosufloxacin, and of the first automated allergy diagnostic system, Abbott Matrix.
