Healthcare giant Johnson& Johnson (J&J) on Tuesday reported a 1 percent improvement in its third-quarter profit but weaker-than-expected quarterly sales. Generic competition and safety concerns have undermined sales of many top drugs and the recession hurt consumer product sales for the diversified healthcare company, a member of the Dow industrials. J&J said its profits rose slightly to $3.35 billion in the third quarter from $3.31 billion a year ago. The profit was better than analysts had expected. The company had revenue of $15.08 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago and slightly below analysts' expectations. Despite the mixed quarterly report, J&J raised its profit forecast for all of 2009. For the first nine months of the year, net profit fell 2 percent to $10.06 billion from $10.24 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell almost 7 percent to $45.35 billion from $48.57 billion. Sales in the company's biggest division, medical devices and diagnostics, rose 2.3 percent to $5.84 billion in the third quarter. Pharmaceutical sales, the former top-selling division, saw a 14.1 plunge in sales to $5.25 billion from $6.1 billion, as U.S. sales tumbled 19 percent. Sales at J&J's consumer products division posted a 2.7 percent drop in sales, to $3.99 billion. “We continue to successfully manage our broad base of businesses and deliver solid earnings despite the impact of patent expirations and the challenges posed by the current economic environment,” chief executive William Weldon said in a statement. “We completed multiple acquisitions and strategic collaboration and receive several new product approvals in the quarter that will benefit patients worldwide and drive future growth,” Weldon wrote. Among the key deals in the last quarter, J&J invested nearly $1.4 billion in Irish biotechnology company Elan, which it will help to develop two experimental drugs for Alzheimer's disease and a vaccine to prevent it. J&J also entered the vaccine business by paying $440 million for a stake in Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell NV, which is developing a drug that would target all types of influenza.
