Baxter Posts Strong Earnings But Offers Disappointing View

By Angela Chen and Lauren Pollock 

Baxter International Inc. on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter but gave a disappointing profit outlook for the current period, pointing to increased generic competition and manufacturing costs, among other things.

Baxter has recently made a number of moves as part of its effort to focus its business before it spins off its biopharmaceuticals operations into an independent company later this year.

Last year, it agreed to sell its portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million to Pfizer Inc. The company in July said it had acquired AesRx LLC, a private biopharmaceutical company focused on orphan drug targets, including a an investigational treatment for sickle cell disease.

For the current quarter, the company said earnings would be hurt by foreign-currency impacts, increased generic competition, and additional manufacturing and operational costs.

Baxter guided for first-quarter earnings of 85 cents to 90 cents a share, with sales falling about 3% to 4%, partly due to foreign-currency impacts. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.03 a share on a 6% sales decline.

For the fourth quarter, Baxter reported a profit of $953 million, or $1.74 cents a share, up from $326 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier.

The quarter's results included a $429 million gain tied to Baxter's recently divested vaccines franchise, partly offset by $209 million in charges for amortization and milestone payments. Excluding these and other items, earnings were $1.34 a share. The company had projected per-share earnings between $1.30 and $1.33.

Net sales rose 3.5% to $4.47 billion, topping the $4.34 billion expected by analysts.

Medical-products sales were flat at $2.59 billion. Baxter's bioscience business, excluding vaccines, reported revenue grew 9% to $1.88 billion, pushed higher by demand for the company's hemophilia therapies.

Baxter shares were inactive premarket and are up 2.6% over the past 12 months through Wednesday's close.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail] and Lauren Pollock at [e-mail]

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