Baxter International Q3 Profit Declines; Sees Lower Sales In Q4

(RTTNews) - Baxter International Inc. (BAX) on Tuesday reported a sharp decline in profit for the third quarter from last year on lower sales and one-time charges related to the spin-off of Baxalta Inc.

Net income for the third quarter was $1 million or breakeven per share, down from $468 million or $0.54 per share in the year-ago period.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.41, compared to $0.44 per share last year. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.29 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Worldwide net sales for the quarter declined 8 percent to $2.49 billion from $2.71 billion last year, driven by a negative impact from foreign exchange. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.46 billion.

Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, Baxter's worldwide sales grew 2 percent in the quarter and exceeded the company's guidance of comparable year-over-year sales.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Baxter expects sales to decline 1 percent, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. On a reported basis, including the impact of foreign exchange, the company expects sales to decline about 9 percent.

After adjusting for the impact of both foreign exchange and increased competition in the U.S. for cyclophosphamide, Baxter expects sales growth of 1 to 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Baxter also expects earnings from continuing operations, before special items, of $0.30 to $0.32 per diluted share for the fourth quarter, The Street expects the company to earn $0.30 per share for the quarter on revenues of $2.55 billion.

For fiscal 2015, Baxter expects sales to increase about 1 percent excluding the impact of foreign exchange. After adjusting for the impact of both foreign exchange and increased U.S. competition for cyclophosphamide, the company expects full-year sales growth of about 3 percent.

For the second half of 2015, the company now expects earnings from continuing operations, before special items, of $0.71 to $0.73 per share, up from its previous earnings guidance of $0.58 to $0.62 per share.