BURLINGTON, N.C. – Laboratory Corporation of American (NYSE: LH) beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter with a profit of $1.34 per share.

LabCorp, which operates lab testing facilities worldwide, disclosed earnings before the markets opened Thursday.

Analysts polled by Thompson Reuters had expected a $1.31 profit.

LabCorp reported net earnings of $131.8 million, which actually were down from $142.7 million a year earlier. Earnings were 18 cents per share higher when adjusted for restructuring and one-time costs.

Revenues rose 11.2 percent from 2009 to $1.3 billion, boosted in December by results from recently acquired Genzyme Genetics.

For the year, LabCorp earned $558.2 million, up $15 million from a year earlier. Revenues climbed 6.6 percent to just over $5 billion.

“We had a great year and achieved the goals we set out at the beginning of 2010 – solid revenue and EPS growth, launch of the Beacon IT platform and meaningful bad debt reduction,” said David King, LabCorp’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We also made a significant strategic move by completing the acquisition of Genzyme Genetics. We look forward to continuing our progress on all these fronts in 2011.”

For the full financial report, read here.

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