J&J sales up 13%, profit down 8%

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Johnson & Johnson's sales increased in the third quarter but its net profit fell, the pharmaceutical and consumer goods giant said Tuesday.

Johnson & Johnson (Charts, Fortune 500) said that sales rose to $15 billion in the third quarter, up 12.7 percent from the same period last year. But net earnings dropped 7.7 percent to $2.5 billion from the year-earlier quarter, and diluted earnings per share fell 6.4 percent to 88 cents.

Despite the profit decline, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company raised its earnings guidance for the full year 2007 to between $4.10 and $4.13 per share, not including the impact of certain charges for research and restructuring.

The sales and earnings figures excluding charges beat Wall Street estimates. The company's stock rose slightly after the earnings report.

Without restructuring charges, the company's net earnings for the third quarter were $3.1 billion and diluted earnings per share were $1.06. Analyst consensus from Thomson Financial projected $14.8 billion in sales for the third quarter, with EPS of 99 cents.

Dominic Caruso, chief finance officer, said the earnings strength was a prime reason behind raising the company's guidance for the year.

J&J is the world's largest pharmaceutical company in terms of annual sales, which are derived from drugs, consumer goods and medical devices. Rival Pfizer (Charts, Fortune 500) is the largest company that derives all or most of its sales from drugs.

In the medical device market, Johnson & Johnson competes against Medtronic (Charts, Fortune 500), St. Jude Medical (Charts) and Boston Scientific (Charts, Fortune 500).