Latest News J&J Cites Pharmaceutical Segment for Driving a 10.6 Percent Increase in Second-Quarter Sales By Staff Wednesday, July 18, 2018 12:21 AM NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) on Tuesday reported that its sales rose 10.6 percent to $20.8 billion in the second quarter, due in part to a 19.9 percent sales increase in its pharmaceutical business segment. On an operational basis, the company’s overall sales increase was 8.7 percent, and the positive impact of currency was 1.9 percent, according to the announcement. Domestic sales increased 9.4 percent, while international sales rose 11.8 percent, reflecting operational growth of 7.9 percent and a positive currency impact of 3.9 percent.“Our strong second-quarter results reflect double-digit growth in our pharmaceutical business and the accelerating sales momentum in our medical devices business, driven by the continued growth of our market-leading products and strategic new launches,” chairman and chief executive officer Alex Gorsky said in the announcement. “We remain focused on investing in innovation and meeting the needs of our customers by delivering innovative products and solutions that position the company to deliver long-term, sustainable growth.”Within the $7 billion medical device segment (which includes vision care), J&J said worldwide operational results (excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures) were “driven by Acuvue contact lenses and surgical products in the vision business,” among other products. Within the vision care business, J&J reported sales of $1.173 billion, an increase of 11.2 percent compared with $1.055 billion in the year-ago period. U.S. vision sales rose 13.3 percent to $459 million, while international vision sales increased 9.8 percent to $714 million.Sales of contact lenses rose 16.8 percent to $320 million in the U.S. market, while the international contact lens business saw sales rise 9.4 percent to $524 million, according to the announcement. In its earnings presentation document, J&J noted that its contact lens business segment showed “strong above-market consumption, primarily reflected in astigmatism and daily disposable lenses in the Oasys family, coupled with strong growth in Japan and emerging markets, as well as prior year comparisons in the U.S.”On a company-overall basis, J&J reported that its worldwide sales increased 6.3 percent on an operational basis (excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures). This breaks down to domestic sales increasing 5.7 percent and international sales rising 6.8 percent.J&J said adjusted net earnings for the current quarter were $5.7 billion, which represented an increase of 14.0 percent compared with the same period in 2017. The company also updated its sales guidance for the full-year 2018 to a range of $80.5 billion to $81.3 billion. This reflects an increase in expected operational growth to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent, partially offset by the estimated lower favorable impact of currency, the announcement noted.