J&J Beats Street Despite Hefty Charges, Forecast Disappoints

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported a lower fourth-quarter profit related to one-time recall costs and its still-shuttered McNeil facility that hampered domestic over-the-counter sales, however it surpassed Wall Street expectations on new drug sales.

The pharmaceutical and personal goods giant said it earned $218 million, or 8 cents a share, down 89% from $1.94 billion, or 70 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items such as litigation settlements and costs associated with the DePuy ASR Hip recall, the company said it earned $1.13 a share, ahead of average analyst estimates of $1.09 in a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue for the three-month period was $16.3 billion, up 3.9% from a year ago, narrowly beating the Street’s view of $16.27 billion.

Domestic sales declined 3.4% because of a manufacturing suspension at the McNeil Consumer Healthcare facility that took a toll on production of over-the-counter medicines. But that was partially offset by a 10.2% increase in international sales related to its worldwide pharmaceutical business and strong demand for Neutrogena and Listerine products.

New products such as severe plaque psoriasis drug Stelera and prostate cancer treatment Zytiga also contributed.

"We delivered solid results for 2011, built on the strong growth of our recently launched pharmaceutical products, and continued the steady momentum of new product approvals across all our businesses," J&J chief executive William Weldon said in a statement.

The company revealed a disappointing 2012 earnings guidance on Tuesday, with earnings in the range of $5.05 to $5.15 a share, excluding one-time items. Wall Street is anticipating a profit of $5.21.