Abbott: 4Q Sales Figures

Abbott Laboratories reported fourth-quarter results and announced it will cut almost 2,000 people from its U.S. pharma workforce.

Pharma sales rose 23% for the quarter to $6.0 billion and 21% for the year to $19.9 billion, boosted by the 2010 acquisitions of Solvay and Piramal Healthcare and the strong performance of Humira, which posted 4Q10 sales of $1.9 billion (+13%) and FY10 sales of $6.6 billion (+19%). Humira sales rose 14% in the U.S. to $2.9 billion and jumped 24% overseas to $3.7 billion. Those major acquisitions dragged down Abbott's earnings.

Within the earnings announcement, Abbott announced that it will cut 1,900 people from its U.S. pharma workforce. The move follows a September 2010 announcement of 3,000 layoffs, related to the Solvay acquisition. The new move was likely tied into several pipeline failure and is associated with commercial and manufacturing operations.

4Q Revenues: $9.7 billion (+13%)

4Q Earnings: $1.4 billion (-6%)

FY Revenues: $35.2 billion (+14%)

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