Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday posted better than expected first quarter revenue and income, and raised its 2012 earnings forecast.
The North Chicago-based pharmaceutical company said it earned $1.24 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the first quarter. That’s up 44 percent from $864 million, or 55 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue rose 4.6 percent to $9.46 billion, fueled by strong growth in its proprietary pharmaceuticals, diagnostic devicies and nutritional products.
Sales of Abbott’s blockbuster arthritis drug Humira jumped 17.4 percent in the quarter to $1.9 billion.
Excluding one-time items, Abbott earned $1.03 a share, beating Wall Street’s expectation of $1.00 a share.
The company plans to reveal this quarter its plans, in detail, to split the company into two. The split, which will break off Abbott’s legacy branded pharmaceutical business into a separate firm called AbbVie, is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
pfrost@tribune.com | Twitter: @peterfrost
