Pfizer, J&J; Announce Strong 2nd Quarter

NEW YORK â€”  Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson kicked off the earnings season for U.S. drug makers with strong second-quarter results Tuesday driven by sales of key medicines, and both firms reaffirmed solid earnings forecasts for the year.

New York-based Pfizer, the world’s largest seller of prescription drugs after its merger with drug giant Warner-Lambert last year, said it earned $1.89 billion, or 30 cents a share, up 30% from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts had expected the maker of prescription drugs such as Lipitor for high cholesterol and impotence treatment Viagra to earn about 29 cents a share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.

Revenue grew 10% to $7.69 billion, with sales in the company’s core pharmaceutical business up 14% to $6 billion.

Global sales of Lipitor jumped 14% to $1.44 billion, and revenue from Viagra rose 16% to $351 million.

Pfizer also reaffirmed its 2002 earnings forecast of $1.56 a share or better, as well as its 2001 estimate of $1.27 to $1.30 a share, representing growth of 25% to 27%.

Diversified health-care firm Johnson & Johnson, which completed its acquisition of Mountain View, Calif., drug developer Alza Corp. late in the quarter, said its operating earnings jumped 16% to 51 cents a share. Key contributors included arthritis treatment Remicade and anemia drug Procrit, with an assist from its medical-device unit.

The latest results exclude a charge of $102 million related to the Alza merger.

Analysts expected J&J;, a Dow Jones industrial component, to earn 53 cents a share, according to First Call.

Shares of the companies rose in trading Tuesday. Pfizer climbed 71 cents to $38.58, while J&J; stock rose $1.18 cents to $54.91, both on the New York Stock Exchange.

Revenue rose 8% to $8.34 billion, driven by sales of Procrit--up 29% to $830 million--and growth of rheumatoid arthritis treatment Remicade, which rose 88% to $171 million.

Overall, global pharmaceutical sales rose 14% to $3.86 billion, and J&J;’s medical-device unit had sales of $2.79 billion, up 8%.

In other earnings news:

* Biogen Inc. said its second-quarter earnings rose 8% to $71.8 million, or 47 cents a share, in line with expectations, on a 13% rise in revenue to $260.7 million. Sales of the biotechnology company’s sole commercial product, the multiple sclerosis drug Avonex, rose 28% to $243.2 million, beyond analyst forecasts of $226 million to $230 million.

* Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, said second-quarter profit fell 14% to $271 million, or 78 cents a share, but beat analysts’ average forecast of 71 cents. Revenue rose 2.4% to $5.49 billion. The company’s shares rose $3.18, or 6%, to $53.55 on the Big Board after the company also maintained its outlook for the year.

* Eastman Kodak Co.’s second-quarter profit dropped 37% to $325 million, or $1.12 a share, matching analyst expectations, as revenue fell 4% to $3.59 billion.

* Maytag Corp., the third-largest appliance maker, said second-quarter earnings dropped 66% to $25.5 million, or 32 cents a share, in line with analyst expectations, as sales of vacuum cleaners and floor-care products slumped. Revenue fell 3.2% to $1.07 billion.

Sales of major appliances rose, but operating income in the segment plunged 51%, Maytag said.

* Washington Mutual Inc., the nation’s biggest savings and loan company, said its second-quarter profit rose 63% to $798.2 million, or 91 cents a share, as it benefited from a boom in mortgage and loan business spurred by lower interest rates. The results easily beat analysts’ average forecast of 81 cents.

* Whirlpool Corp., No. 1 U.S. maker of home appliances, said its second-quarter earnings fell 56% to $88 million, or $1.30 a share, hurt by slower consumer spending in big-ticket items around the globe. Sales were flat at $2.6 billion. Whirlpool’s results were better than analysts’ $1.27-a-share average estimate.