Cardinal Health (CAH) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings per share of 54 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 43 cents and the year-ago earnings of 47 cents.   Sales   Total sales in the reported quarter increased 6% year over year to $24.8 billion. Growth was witnessed across all the business segments.   Pharmaceutical segment revenues increased 5% year over year to $22.6 billion. Growth was primarily due to higher sales to existing pharmaceutical distribution customers. Sales to bulk customers increased 6% year over year to $11.3 billion. Sales to non-bulk customers increased 5% year over year to $11.2 billion.   Medical segment revenues increased 10% year over year to $2.2 billion. Growth can be primarily attributed to higher sales to existing customers. In addition, the CareFusion Corp. (CFN) spin-off has resulted in immediate revenue recognition from international sales to CareFusion.   Margins   Cardinal Health ...

Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) yesterday entered into a five-year, laboratory products supply agreement with Novation, one of the largest group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in the U.S. Per the agreement, Cardinal Health will exclusively provide laboratory products to Novation's clinical members, such as hospital laboratories, blood banks, core laboratories and reference laboratories. The agreement is effective from Oct. 1, 2009 and runs until 2014. Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Cardinal’s stock reacted positively to the news, with the price increasing roughly 1.4% to $27.70 at the end of Sept. 28, 2009. Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies which helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products. Cardinal Health recently completed the spin-off of its Clinical and Medical Products business to form ...

Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has completed the spin-off of its Clinical and Medical Products business to form a subsidiary, CareFusion Corporation (CFN). The spin-off was completed through a pro rata distribution of roughly 81% of CareFusion’s common stock. Roughly 222 million shares of CareFusion common stock were outstanding on the date of distribution. Of this, 180 million shares (81%) were distributed to Cardinal Health shareholders on a pro rata basis. Cardinal Health retained the balance 41 million shares, which will be divested within the next five years. Cardinal Health shareholders received 0.5 share of CareFusion common stock for each share of Cardinal Health they hold. We think that the spin-off will help Cardinal Health unlock the value of the assets tied to CareFusion and concentrate more on its core Healthcare Supply Chain business. The company’s core Healthcare business constitutes roughly 96% of total revenues....

Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has offered to buy back $1.2 billion of its long-term debt securities (notes) as part of its plan to reduce long-term debt after spinning off its CareFusion Corporation division on Aug 31, 2009. These securities carry maturity dates from 2011 to 2026. The offer expires on Sept. 24 and the owners of these securities must tender their notes by Sept 10 to receive the early tender premium. The notes were issued by Cardinal Health and its subsidiary, Allegiance Corp., Cardinal will finance the buyback with a combination of both cash in hand and a $1.4 billion it is expecting to generate from the CareFusion spin-off. The amount remaining after financing the tender offer will be used for retiring notes due in Oct 2009. We view the buyback as a good use of the company’s cash balance. Cardinal’s cash balance stood at roughly ...

Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) announced that the use of the preoperative skin preparation, ChloraPrep, is significantly more effective than both DuraPrep and povidone-iodine at eliminating overall bacteria from the shoulder region. After antisepsis with ChloraPrep, only 7% of skin cultures tested positive for bacteria compared to 19% for DuraPrep and 31% for povidone-iodine.   The data was published by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery recently. ChloraPrep is a product of Cardinal Health’s subsidiary, CareFusion, which the company will spin-off with effect from Aug 31.   ChloraPrep is a preoperative skin preparation that reduces bacteria and other microorganisms on the patients' skin before any medical and surgical procedures. The drug remains effective for at least 48 hours after its application and reduces the risk of dangerous bloodstream and surgical site infections.    Bacteria on the skin is the primary cause of surgical site infections. These infections ...

Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) announced that its spin-off subsidiary, CareFusion Corp., will be included in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Aug 31. CareFusion replaces The Manitowoc Co. Inc. (MTW) in the index and will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Health Care Equipment Sub-Industry index.   CareFusion is being formed by spinning off the Clinical and Medical Products business of Cardinal Health. The spin-off is expected to be completed on Aug 31. CareFusion Corp. is expected to generate earnings per share of $1.10 to $1.20 on a standalone basis.   The S&P 500 represents prices of the top 500 large-cap companies traded in the U.S. stock exchanges. It is one of the world’s most prestigious indices. Hundreds of billions of US dollars are invested in the S&P 500 index by different mutual funds, pension funds and exchange traded ...