Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) missed the earnings target set by Wall Street analysts for its fiscal 2nd quarter, sending shares down slightly today.
The Dublin, Ohio, medical device and pharmaceutical company reported profits of $303 million, or 88¢ per share, on sales of $25.23 billion, for bottom-line growth of 15.6% despite a top-line slide of 6.8% compared with the same period in 2011.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 93¢, 4 pennies shy of expectations on The Street.
"We’ve now completed a strong first half to our fiscal 2013 with a good 2nd-quarter performance. While continued brand-to-generic conversions and the previously announced movement of the Express Scripts contract drove a revenue decline in the pharmaceutical segment, excellent performance from our generic programs and new customer wins fueled profit gains," chairman & CEO George Barrett said in prepared remarks. "And, despite continued procedural softness in the industry, our medical segment reported double-digit growth this quarter. With our performance in the 1st 6 months of fiscal 2013, we are now guiding to the top half of our prior non-GAAP EPS range."
Cardinal Health’s medical segment logged sales of $2.5 billion for the quarter, up 3%, despite "continued softness in key U.S. markets, particularly as it relates to procedural volume," according to a press release. The medical unit’s profits rose 11% to $94 million.
Barrett told analysts during a conference call that Cardinal Health now predicts adjusted earnings per share of $3.42-$3.50.
