Nutritionals feed Abbott
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Nutritional sales grew 11 percent in the fourth quarter to $1.28 billion globally, with U.S. revenues climbing nearly 7 percent driven by the launch of infant formula Similac Advanced EarlyShield and continued sales of Glucerna and Ensure. International nutrition sales rose 15 percent, the Abbott Park, Ill.-based firm said Jan. 21. To address increased demand in Asia, where consumers are shaken by the contaminated formula scandal that rocked China in 2008, Abbott will open a manufacturing facility in Singapore this quarter, Investor Relations VP John Thomas said during a same-day earnings call. He also said the firm expects its planned acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics to grow its market share more than $4 billion globally with help from sales of the Tecnis multifocal intraocular lens FDA approved Jan. 16 (1"The Tan Sheet" Jan. 19, 2009, p. 17). Abbott's net sales in the quarter advanced 10.1 percent to $8 billion and for the year revenues grew 13.9 percent to $29.5 billion