Skin care helps drive J&J results

The company said that second-quarter sales grew by 13.2 per cent to reach $15.1billion, a figure that was positively impacted by the recent acquisition of the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare business. Likewise the Pfizer buy has also positively impacted which most benefited the group's consumer division, the mainstay for the company's personal care business operations. Net earning were $3.08bn, compared to $2.90bn in the corresponding quarter last year. Excluding a charge of $87m relating to the acquisition of medical provider Vascular Control Systems, meant that earning for the quarter rose by 6 per cent. Speaking about the results, CEO William Weldon said that the company's broad-based approach to health care was helping the performance, despite the fact that challenges were intensifying the competition across the marketplace. "We continue to grow earnings while successfully integrating acquisitions and continuing to invest in promising new growth opportunities,"​ he added. The company said that for its worldwide consumer division, sales rose by 48.6 per cent to $3.56bn compared to the same period a year earlier, a figure that was positively impacted by currency exchange rates and by the Pfizer acquisition. The biggest jump for this division came from international sales though, which were up 54.6 per cent to reach $2.00bn, compared to sales of $1.30bn for the corresponding quarter. The company said that on a brand basis, the biggest impact on consumer sales came from the Neutrogena, Aveeno and Baby and Kid Care product lines, together with the addition of the Listerine antiseptic mouthrinse brand, which was previously owned by Pfizer. Analysts had mixed opinions on the results, some pointing to the fact that underlying growth was not so strong, and likewise to the fact that sales of certain key medical brands were down. Indeed share prices fell by $1.06 to $62.74 at the close of business on the NYSE, after the results were published yesterday. However, bearing in mind the strong growth from the company's personal care brands and the fact that it is intends to remain acquisitive in key growth areas, the financial experts also believe that there is a strong likelihood that the company could be making further investments in this segment in the near future.