AbbVie earnings ahead of expectations

PHOTO/rick saia AbbVie's Worcester research facility employs roughly 700 people.

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Less than two weeks after abandoning a $55 billion deal to buy rival Shire following changes to U.S. tax rules, Illinois-based drug maker AbbVie raised its annual earnings guidance after sales of its top drug grew 17 percent.

The company, which has research and development operations in Worcester, announced Friday that worldwide sales topped $5 billion for the third quarter, a gain of 8 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Worldwide sales of its arthritis drug Humira accounted for $3.25 billion of that, AbbVie said

Meanwhile earnings for the quarter were $506 million, or 31 cents per share. That’s down from $964 million, or 60 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.. Excluding certain items, per-share earnings were 89 cents, above the company's projection of 77 to 79 cents, it said.

The company also revised its guidance for the year, which sent its shares climbing 2.5 percent in early trading.

For the year, AbbVie expects earnings per share in the range of $3.25 to $3.27, up from its original projection of $3.06 to $3.16.

AbbVie and Shire had agreed on a $55-billion merger, and AbbVie intended to move its headquarters to Ireland, where Shire is based. But the Obama administration sought to crack down on companies seeking to move their headquarters outside the United States to lower their tax liabilities to the federal government.