Abbott Laboratories reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings today as strong demand for nutritional products offset lower sales of medical devices and generic prescription drugs.

Despite the earnings beat, Abbott left its full-year profit forecast unchanged at $1.98 to $2.04 per share.

The company, which in January spun off its branded prescription drugs business into a new company called AbbVie Inc , earned $476 million, or 30 cents per share, from continuing operations, compared with $411 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, it earned 46 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected 44 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 2.5 per cent to $5.45 billion, slightly below Wall Street expectations for $5.52 billion.

Reuters