Danaher Q1 Profit Down, Adj. EPS Tops View; Backs FY17 Adj. EPS Forecast

(RTTNews) - Danaher Corp. (DHR), a science and technology company, reported Thursday that its first-quarter net earnings fell to $506.1 million or $0.72 from last year's $758.4 million or $1.09 per share.

Net earnings from continuing operations were $483.8 million or $0.69 per share, down 18.0% from the previous year.

Adjusted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.85, compared to $0.79 a year ago.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.84 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

For the first quarter, revenues increased 7% to $4.21 billion from $3.92 billion last year. Core revenue growth was 2.5%.

Looking ahead, for the second quarter, the company anticipates net earnings per share from continuing operations will be in the range of $0.77 to $0.80 and adjusted net earnings per share will be in the range of $0.95 to $0.98. Analysts expect earnings of $0.99 per share for the second quarter.

For the full year 2017, the company anticipates net earnings per share from continuing operations will be in the range of $3.13 to $3.23, and continues to expect its adjusted net earnings per share to be in the range of $3.85 to $3.95. Analysts expect earnings of $3.95 per share for the year.

Thomas Joyce, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are off to a good start in 2017. During the first quarter, our two most recent large acquisitions, Pall and Cepheid, performed very well. We drove share gains in a number of our operating companies and achieved high-single-digit adjusted earnings per share growth."

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, DHR shares were trading at $87.70, up 1.46 percent.