Laboratory Corporation missed profit estimates for the third quarter by 2 cents, even as earnings for the testing and diagnostics firms rose over 2006.
LabCorp (NYSE: ) reported Thursday morning it made a profit of $1.07 per share, or $111.2 million, on revenues of $1.02 billion.
Financial analysts polled by Reuters had expected a $1.09-per-share profit.
LabCorp’s earnings were 23 cents higher than the same quarter in 2006, excluding one-time charges. Revenues increased more than 12 percent from a year earlier.
The company did take one-time charges of $31.3 million in the third quarter for work force reduction and closing of underutilized and redundant facilities.
"Our third quarter again showed impressive revenue and EPS growth," said David King, LabCorp’s chief executive officer, in a statement. "Net sales and EPS grew significantly compared to the first nine months of 2006, driven by both volume increases and disciplined expense-control. We are pleased that we continue to see healthy growth on both the top and bottom line."
Looking ahead, LabCorp forecast revenue growth of between 12.7percent and 13.2 percent for the year and profits of between $4.11 and $4.18 per share.
For 2008, LabCorp estimated much slower revenue growth of 6.5 percent to 8.5 percent, but earnings growth of between 11 percent and 14 percent.
