Ross Products
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Similac and Ensure marketer's U.S. sales up 1% to $493 mil. in Q4 and 4% to $2.03 bil. for the year. Abbott Labs division reports growth in pediatric nutritionals continues to be driven by new products, line extensions and innovative packaging; Ross recently began rolling out to selected markets Isomil Soy Formula with Iron in "ready-to-feed" aseptic bottles and also launched Similac 2 with Iron in infant and toddler formulas. Abbott's overall fourth quarter net sales increased 6.8% to $3.7 bil. as net earnings jumped 13.5% to $753.4 mil. For the year, net sales reached $13.75 bil., up 4.3%, and net earnings saw a 13.9% spike to $2.79 bil