By Rob Curran

Medical-device maker Baxter International booked a plunge in third-quarter net income due to the divestiture of its dialysis-machine unit, and forecast fourth-quarter adjusted profit more or less flat sequentially, as it endeavored to get a factory back online in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The Deerfield, Ill., maker of hospital supplies and other health-care items posted third-quarter earnings of $140 million, or 27 cents a share, down from $2.51 billion, or $4.93 a share, a year earlier. The year-earlier quarter included $4.86 a share in earnings attributable to the kidney-care unit, now categorized as discontinued operations.

In August, Baxter agreed to sell its Kidney Care unit for $3.8 billion to investment firm Carlyle Group. Baxter expects to receive about $3.15 billion-to-$3.25 billion in proceeds, net of tax.

Stripping out certain one-off items, Baxter logged adjusted earnings of 80 cents a share, topping the average Wall Street peg of 78 cents a share, according to a FactSet tally.

Third-quarter sales were $3.85 billion, in line with the average Wall Street target, as per FactSet.

For the fourth quarter, Baxter targeted adjusted earnings in a range between 77 cents and 81 cents a share. For 2024, Baxter projected adjusted earnings of $2.90-to-$2.94 a share.

"While the hurricane's aftermath is expected to have an impact on our near-term financial outlook, we remain confident in Baxter's outlook and growth trajectory following completion of the pending Kidney Care sale," Chairman, President and Chief Executive Jose Almeida said in a statement.

Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina in late September, flooded Baxter's North Cove, N.C., manufacturing facility, leading to a temporary production shutdown.

Baxter said it is working to restore production at the facility, but does not have a targeted date for getting it back up to full capacity. The highest output production line at the factory, which makes intravenous equipment, has restarted. That production line accounts for 25% of all production at the factory.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2024 07:53 ET (12:53 GMT)

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