Johnson & Johnson beat earnings expectations for the first quarter of the year, but was forced to lower its full-year expectations as results continued to take battering from the strong US dollar.
The healthcare giant posted first-quarter earnings per share of $1.56, overshooting the average analyst estimate of $1.53 (compiled by Bloomberg) a share, but down 4.3% on the year-ago period.
While sales of $17.4 billion came in above the consensus forecast of $17.32 billion, they were also down on last year, by 4.1%. On the home-front revenues were up 5.9%, but the overall result was dragged down by a 12.4% dip in international sales, largely because of negative currency effects.
Worldwide pharmaceutical sales grew 3% to $7.7 billion, with operational growth of 10.2% and a negative impact from currency of 7.2%. Domestic sales leapt 16.9% but internationally they dropped 10.7%, reflecting an operational increase of 3.7% and a negative currency impact of 14.4%.
J&J said operational sales growth was driven by new products and the strength of core ones. Revenues of newcomer Invokana (canagliflozin), for diabetes, near tripled to $278 million, while newly launched cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) generated $116 million. Growth of the biologics Stelara (ustekinumab) and Simponi (golimumab) hit 20.4% to $548 million and 16% to $300 million, respectively. Turnover of top-selling drug, the anti-inflammatory Remicade (infliximab), slipped 0.6% to $1.6 billion.
Worldwide consumer sales of $3.4 billion slipped 4.7%, masking an operational increase of 3.4% and a negative impact from currency of 8.1%. Medical Devices took a hit on both sides, with sales slipping 11.4% to$6.3 billion because of an operational decrease of 4.6% and a negative currency impact of 6.8%.
Looking forward, the negative currency effect from the strong US dollar will probably continue to hit J&J throughout the year. As such, the firm has reduced its 2015 earnings guidance to $6.04 to $6.19 per share, down from the earlier forecast of $6.12 to $6.27.
