Device revenues fell nearly $10 million during the third quarter for Hospira Inc., with sales of drug-delivery systems and related products slipping to around 26 percent of total revenues.
But the decline was one of the few blemishes in an otherwise upbeat quarter for the former Abbott Labs subsidiary, which for the first time took in more than $1 billion in quarterly revenues. The Lake Forest, Ill.-based manufacturer also had little difficulty transferring the sales improvement to the bottom line, recording a $116.2 million profit during the three months ended Sept. 30, or 72 cents a share, up 42.1 percent from a year ago.
Overall sales rose to $1.01 billion, up 8.9 percent from the $925.5 million recorded last year. But device sales declined by $9.8 million, to $262.7 million, a 3.6 percent drop from the $372.5 reported for Q3 2008.
The reduction was most pronounced for sales of I.V. sets, pre-filled syringes, suction and collection products, monitors and other devices, falling $8.9 million from the $114.4 million reported last year, to $105.5 million. Revenues for medication management systems such as the MedNet wireless drug-dispensing platform fared better, coming within $900,000 of the $158.1 million reported worldwide during the comparable year-ago quarter.
Hospira executives cited big gains for a generic version of oxaliplatin, a platinum-based compound used in anti-cancer chemotherapy, for pacing the top-line growth. They also credited ongoing progress with the company’s “Project Fuel” initiative, which aims to trim costs by $140 million a year through job cuts and other efficiency efforts.
The officials also re-affirmed their sales and profit forecasts, predicting net income of between $2.25 to $2.30 a share for 2009, which includes a 73-cent charge for Project Fuel-related costs. Annual sales are expected to rise between 5 percent to 7 percent from 2008 levels.