Sales during the quarter fell by 0.7 percent to $15.0, which missed expectations given by 16 analysts interviewed by Bloomberg, resulting in a number of product recalls, mainly for non-prescription medicines.
However, despite the slight drop in sales, a particularly strong performance in the company’s pharmaceutical and medical device division helped boost profits, with net earning increasing 2.2 percent to $3.4bn.
“We continue to deliver solid earnings while investing in our future through complementary strategic partnerships and acquisitions,” said William Weldon, company CEO.
Pharma and medical counterbalance consumer division
Further expanding on this, Weldon emphasized the performance of the pharmaceuticals and medical device division, underlining the success of new product launches.
The company announced in April of this year that it was withdrawing more than 40 types of children’s medicines from retail shelves, mainly on account of internal checks that found the products did not match quality and potency controls.
US consumer sales fell by 24.5 percent as a result of the recalls, while international consumer sales were also marginally affected, falling by 0.3 percent. This meant that globally consumer sales fell by 10.6 percent to $3.6bn.
Baby care and Daboa lead the way
Within the consumer division group, personal care helped bring added value, with the company earmarking the performance of the Daboa skin care range and its world renowned baby care products.
Looking ahead to the full financial year 2010, the company said it is expecting earnings and net profit to be above initial expectations, mainly due to the advantage of more favorable exchange rates.
Currently the US dollar is continuing to depreciate against foreign currencies, helping to boost revenues from its international business.