CareFusion profit down, but company lifts outlook

CareFusion reports smaller benefit from discontinued business, but raises fiscal year forecast

• On 5:39 pm EST, Thursday November 5, 2009

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Medical technology company CareFusion Corp. said its profit slid 28 percent in the fiscal first quarter compared with a year ago because of businesses that were not included in its spinoff from Cardinal Health.

The company's profit fell to $81 million, or 37 cents per share, from $113 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago. It said its profit from continuing operations rose to 25 cents per share from 14 cents per share. Revenue grew 1 percent, to $923 million from $915 million.

CareFusion said it earned 39 cents per share from continuing operations if one-time items are excluded.

Thomson Reuters says analysts, who typically exclude items, were expecting profit of 26 cents per share and $946.3 million in revenue.

CareFusion was spun off from Cardinal Health on Aug. 31. However the company said some of its businesses remained a part of Cardinal Health. Those included units that sell surgical gloves, gowns, and drapes to hospitals. Compared with a year earlier, it said critical care technology revenue held steady at $617 million, and its medical technologies and service revenue rose 3 percent to $306 million.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, the company raised its profit forecast to a range of $1.35 to $1.45 per share for the share, from $1.10 to $1.20 per share. The stock jumped $1.44, or 6.4 percent, to $23.99, and set a high of $24.34.

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