Johnson & Johnson Raises Guidance

Johnson & Johnson raised its top- and bottom-line outlook for the year even as the health-care giant's second-quarter revenue declined amid steeper competition for some of its key drugs.

Shares in the company were trading up 1.1% premarket to $133.60.

Chief Executive Alex Gorsky said investments will accelerate sales growth in the second half of the year, highlighting the company's $30 billion acquisition of Actelion Ltd., which closed in the quarter.

The company now expects adjusted earnings for the year of $7.12 to $7.22 a share, up from $7 to $7.15. Sales are now expected to come it at $75.8 billion to $76.1 billion, up from $75.4 billion to $76.1 billion.

But J&J has been facing lower-priced competition for some of its key prescription drugs. And with nearly half of its sales overseas, J&J's results have been pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and weakness in some emerging markets.

Last year Pfizer Inc. launched a biosimilar version of Remicade, a rheumatoid-arthritis treatment and J&J's top-selling product. Remicade sales dropped 14% in the second quarter to $1.53 billion world-wide.

Overall revenue in J&J's pharmaceutical business, the company's largest, edged 0.2% lower to $8.64 billion, dragged by foreign-currency challenges.

J&J's medical-devices business recorded a 4.9% increase in sales to $6.73 billion. In its consumer products division, sales grew 1.7% to $3.48 billion.

In all for the June period, J&J earned $3.83 billion, or $1.40 a share, down from $4 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the same period a year before.

Revenue rose 1.9% to $18.84 billion.

Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings were $1.83 a share. Analysts had expected $1.80 in adjusted per-share profit on revenue of $18.95 billion.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2017 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT)