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Medical-supplies company Becton Dickinson & Co. (BDX) issued a preliminary projection on Thursday for earnings to grow 7% in its upcoming fiscal year, but from a fiscal 2009 base that doesn't include a big one-time earnings gain related to currency hedging.

The company expects stronger growth in future years as the economy recovers, company President Vincent A. Forlenza said on a conference call. Becton's Bioscience unit, which sells equipment used in laboratories and for drug discovery, had felt some pressure from the economic downturn.

The 2010 outlook and currency issues were discussed on the call after Becton reported results for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30. The discussion sparked lots of analyst questions and weighed on Becton shares, which were recently down 8.1% to $67.64.

Becton won't deliver official guidance for fiscal 2010 until later this year. But Forlenza said on the call that the company, on a preliminary basis, expects to see earnings growth on the year of about 7% from a fiscal 2009 base of $4.64 to $4.68 a share.

That 2009 base excludes a big 28-cent gain from a currency hedging program that the company doesn't expect to repeat. Including that gain, the company forecast 2009 per-share earnings of $4.92 to $4.96.

The company didn't give fiscal 2010 sales guidance, but longer term, Forlenza said the company strongly believes it is well positioned to increase sales growth to a 7% to 9% range while boosting per-share earnings growth to a 10% to 12% range as the economy recovers.

-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com