Oct 16 (Reuters) – Medical device and drug maker Baxter International Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, as sales at its medical products business continued to grow.
Net adjusted income rose to $741 million, or $1.35 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $681 million, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier.
Net sales grew 13 percent to $4.2 billion.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.31 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $4.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales at the company’s medical products business – which includes intravenous fluid systems, dialysis, biosurgery and some specialty pharmaceuticals such as anesthesia and nutrition – were up 17 percent to $2.5 billion in the third quarter.
Excluding revenue from Gambro, a Swiss company that Baxter bought last year, medical products sales grew four percent. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
