WASHINGTON: Health care and pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson reported a 12.5 percent increase in earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday after seeing global sales shrink from a year earlier.
Sales fell 0.2 percent to $16.14 billion in the period to March 30, mainly due to a 5.1 percent drop in sales in the US market.
International sales were up 4.1 percent.
But net earnings rose to $3.91 billion from $3.48 billion a year earlier, translating to a 12.8 percent rise in earnings per share to $1.41 from $1.25.
"We continue to bring meaningful innovations to our patients and customers through the strong performance of our recently launched products," said chief executive William Weldon in a statement.
The results were heavily driven by the trends in the company's $6.1 billion in pharmaceutical sales. In the US, sales in this sector slumped 10.8 percent, while international sales jumped 16.5 percent -- and 19.6 percent before the negative impact of currency swings.
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