Cardinal Q3: Pharmaceutical Unit Strong

Cardinal Health reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday as strength in its pharmaceutical business offset weakness in its much smaller medical products operation.

The drug wholesaler also raised the lower end of its forecast for the full fiscal year.

Net earnings rose to $333.4 million, or 95 cents per share, in the third quarter ended March 31, from $246.0 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Earnings from continuing operations, excluding items, were 94 cents per share. On that basis, the company beat the consensus estimate on Wall Street of 88 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Quarterly revenue rose 3% to $26.92 billion.

Revenue generated by its pharmaceutical business rose 3% to $24.5 billion, with profit from that business up 9% to $446 million, fueled by its generic drug programs and the positive impact of newly launched products.

Revenue from its medical products business, which sells surgical drapes, scrubs and gloves, increased 8% to $2.4 billion, while profit slid 17% to $89 million. The company attributed the weakness to a rise in commodity prices and increased information systems expenses.

Cardinal said it expects fiscal 2012 earnings from continuing operations, excluding items, to be between $3.15 and $3.20 per diluted share.