ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abbott today announced 2006 earnings-per-share guidance of $2.66 to $2.72 and confirmed its fourth-quarter 2005 guidance of $0.75 to $0.77, both excluding specified items. The company also expects to achieve low double-digit earnings-per- share growth in 2007, consistent with Abbott’s long-term target.
Abbott expects previously announced specified items for the full-year 2006 of $0.05 per share. Including these specified items, projected earnings per share under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for full-year 2006 would be $2.61 to $2.67. Guidance for 2006 does not include the impact of the previously announced pending agreement for certain vascular technology intellectual property rights, or the impact of new accounting rules on expensing stock options, which Abbott will implement beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
Abbott anticipates specified items of $0.20 per share in the fourth quarter of 2005, primarily as a result of actions related to the company’s previously announced cost reduction and gross margin improvement initiatives as well as the tax expense associated with Abbott’s decision to repatriate $3.7 billion of foreign earnings in the fourth-quarter 2005 in connection with the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Including these items, projected earnings per share under GAAP for fourth-quarter 2005 would be $0.55 to $0.57.
Further details regarding Abbott’s earnings-per-share guidance for 2006 will be provided on the company’s fourth-quarter 2005 earnings conference call scheduled for Jan. 25, 2006. Call participants will include: Miles White, chairman of the board and chief executive officer; Richard Gonzalez, president and chief operating officer, Medical Products Group; Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief operating officer, Pharmaceutical Products Group; Thomas Freyman, executive vice president, Finance, and chief financial officer; and, John Thomas, divisional vice president, Investor Relations.
Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs 60,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.
Abbott’s news releases and other information are available on the company’s Web site at http://www.abbott.com .
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - A Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements for the purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Abbott’s operations are discussed in Exhibit 99.1 of our Quarterly Report on Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2005, and are incorporated by reference. We undertake no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as the result of subsequent events or developments.
Abbott
CONTACT: Media, Melissa Brotz, +1-847-935-3456, or Financial Community,John Thomas, +1-847-938-2655, both of Abbott
Web site: http://www.abbott.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110328.html /
