Covidien (NYSE:COV) beat expectations on Wall Street with its 4th-quarter and fiscal 2013 earnings on sales growth in the low single digits for both periods.

Mansfield, Mass.-based Covidien posted profits of $372 million, or 80¢ per share, on sales of $2.56 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 27.

Although that’s a profit slide of 19.3% on sales growth of 2.4% compared with Q4 2012, the numbers include the Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK) pharmaceutical division Covidien spun out last July.

Excluding the Mallinckrodt contribution and other 1-time items, earnings per share were 91¢, a penny ahead of expectations on The Street.

For the full fiscal year, Covidien reported profits of $1.70 billion, or $3.61 per share, on sales of $10.24 billion, for a profit decline of 10.8% on sales growth of 3.9%. Adjusted EPS were $3.72, ahead of analysts’ $3.70 forecast.

"We delivered a solid performance in the 4th quarter and finished 2013 in line with our expectations. That said, reported sales growth were negatively impacted by the strength of the U.S. dollar against most foreign currencies," chairman, president & CEO José E. Almeida said in prepared remarks. "We had strong growth in endomechanical Instruments and energy, as well as in all major product lines in emerging markets resulting from investments in these regions. We also registered double-digit sales growth for Oridion, superDimension, Barrx and Newport during the quarter, which demonstrates our continued success in operating these businesses acquired in 2012."

Covidien affirmed the outlook for fiscal 2014 it announced in September, saying it still expects revenue growth of 2%-5% overall.