Big guns see positive sales trend in first quarter

CR Bard's surgical division had sales of $51 million, up 16%, above the expectations of analysts at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The vascular division's sales rose 5% to $61 million, in line with expectations. The company's urology, oncology and "other" divisions were below the analysts' expectations. Urology sales were $92 million, up 3%, oncology sales were up 7% to $65 million, while "other" sales were down 3% to $15 million. The company hopes to save up to $80 million in annual cost savings through various initiatives over the next four years. Baxter's earnings per share rose 9% to $0.71, in line with consensus estimates. For the full year, the company expects low double-digit sales growth with earnings in the mid-teens. In the quarter, Baxter increased its R&D expenditure by 24% to $103 million. Looking beyond 2001, the company envisages sales growth in the low to mid-teens and earnings growth in the mid- to high teens.