(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, but took another big special charge for its recalled artificial hips and forecast 2013 earnings below Wall Street forecasts.
The diversified healthcare company said it earned $2.6 billion, or 91 cents per share. That compared with $218 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago period when the company took charges of more than $3 billion, including $800 million for medical costs related to recalls of defective "metal-on-metal" hip replacement devices made by its DePuy Orthopedics unit.
J&J on Tuesday said it took special charges of $800 million in the most recent quarter, primarily related to new charges related to the defective artificial hips.
Excluding special items, J&J earned $1.19 per share. Analysts, on average, expected $1.17 per share.
Global revenue rose 8 percent to $17.56 billion, below Wall Street expectations of $17.7 billion.
Sales of prescription drugs jumped 7 percent in the quarter to $6.52 billion, helped by strong sales of its treatments for arthritis, psoriasis and HIV. Sales of medical devices rose almost 14 percent to $7.38 billion, in part due to the company's recent acquisition of trauma-device maker Synthes.
The company forecast full-year 2013 earnings, excluding special items, of $5.35 to $5.45 per share. Analysts, on average, expected $5.49 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
J&J's shares were down 1 percent in premarket trading.
(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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