Abbott beats forecasts, helped by cost cuts, low taxes

(Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories reported better than expected quarterly earnings despite disrupted sales of its infant formulas in China, helped by cost cuts and lower taxes.

The company, which spun off its branded prescription drugs business in January into a separate publicly traded company called AbbVie Inc, on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $773 million, or 49 cents per share. That compared with $339 million, or 21 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, Abbott earned 55 cents per share. Analysts, on average, had expected 51 cents per share.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abbott-beats-forecasts-helped-cost-cuts-low-taxes-120848451--finance.html
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