Becton Dickinson outlook falls short of forecasts

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. - Medical-device maker Becton Dickinson and Co. said Wednesday it expects profit and revenue boosts in fiscal 2009, but the guidance falls short of Wall Street expectations.

Becton Dickinson said a stronger dollar is expected to damp currency exchange benefits from global sales. The company gets the majority of its revenue from overseas.

Operating margin improvement, however, is expected to offset that drag, it added.

Becton Dickinson expects earnings per share to rise between 8 percent and 10 percent from $4.46 per share in the year just ended Sept. 30. That suggests the company expects profit of between $4.82 per share and $4.91 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect fiscal 2009 profit of $4.91 per share.

Becton Dickinson said it expects revenue will increase 1 percent to 2 percent from revenue of $7.16 billion in fiscal 2008. That means the company would post revenue of between $7.23 billion and $7.30 billion next September, falling short of analyst forecasts for $7.55 billion in revenue.

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