Danaher Q3 Profit Increases - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Danaher Corp. (DHR) reported that its net earnings for the third quarter ended September 26, 2014 increased to $680.6 million or $0.95 per share, from $597.0 million or $0.84 per share in the third quarter of 2013. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.89 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Included in third quarter 2014 diluted net earnings per share was a $0.04 per share after-tax gain on the divestiture of a product line and a $0.01 per share benefit from discrete tax items.

Revenues for the third quarter were $4.87 billion, 4.5% higher than the $4.67 billion reported for the third quarter of 2013. Core revenues increased 3% in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the third quarter of 2013. Wall Street expected revenues of $4.90 billion.

The company anticipates that GAAP net earnings per share for the fourth-quarter ending December 31, 2014 will be in the range of $1.00 to $1.04. Included in this range is approximately $125 million, or approximately $0.13 per share, of anticipated productivity charges that are partially offset by an approximate $0.07 per share anticipated gain on the sale of marketable securities. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.04 per share for the fourth-quarter.

Thomas P Joyce, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The Danaher team executed well, using the Danaher Business System to expand margins, generate strong cash flow performance, drive meaningful share gains and deliver better-than-expected earnings. As we plan for 2015, we remain mindful of the challenging macroeconomic outlook including the recently stronger dollar. However, we believe our focus on high-impact growth investments and margin expansion, combined with our robust balance sheet and M&A capacity, position us to finish 2014 well and drive long term results."