DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Becton Dickinson & Co.'s (BDX) fiscal second-quarter net
income fell 5.4% on a antitrust settlement as the medical-products
maker saw broad sales gains, excluding currency fluctuations.
The company has so far been largely immune from the recession
and concerns about hospital-spending cutbacks. Many of Becton's
products are basic items and essentials such as surgical blades and
catheters,
The lawsuit settlement, reached Monday but disclosed Tuesday,
relates to five separate antitrust class-action lawsuits filed in
2005 involving medical-product distributors. The deal with the
direct-purchaser plaintiffs in the cases calls for Becton to pay
$45 million into a settlement fund. A settlement with so-called
indirect purchasers hasn't been reached.
Meanwhile, the company posted net income of $261.3 million, or
$1.06 a share, down from $276.2 million, or $1.09 a share, a year
earlier. Absent the settlement, earnings for the quarter ended
March 31 would have been $1.18 a share.
Revenue dipped 0.4% to $1.74 billion. Excluding the stronger
dollar, sales would have risen about 3%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.16 on
revenue of $1.76 billion.
Gross margin rose to 51.9% from 51.1%, but net income fell
because of a 6% rise in overhead costs and 2.6% increase in
research-and-development spending.
U.S. revenue fell 1%, and international sales, which represent
more than half of the company's revenue, were flat, hurt six
percentage points by the stronger dollar.
Shares of Becton, which reiterated its fiscal-year earnings
target, closed Monday at $64.89 and were inactive premarket.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com
By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938-2136;
kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com