Abbott Laboratories reports strong Q1

Animal health drug supplier Abbott Laboratories has published its first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, reporting increased sales.

The veterinary supplies firm, which also manufactures pharmaceuticals, announced that its global sales increased to 13.8 per cent, to $6.8 billion (£3.4 billion).

It stated that this included a favourable 5.5 per cent effect of exchange rates.

Abbot noted that diluted earnings per share grew 14.5 per cent, reaching $0.63.

Miles D White, chairman and chief executive officer of the organisation, said it had been a strong beginning to the year, with five key new product approvals made during the three month period.

“The continued productivity of our late-stage pipeline, combined with the underlying strength of our broad mix of businesses, gives us a high level of confidence in our future growth outlook,” he added.

In January, Abbott announced its end-quarter results for 2007, noting that it had been a year of consistently strong performance and predicting a lucrative 2008.