Baxter cuts annual profit forecast on hurricane impact
(Reuters) – Baxter International cut its annual profit forecast on Friday due to a hurricane-related hit to its intravenous solutions facility, sending its shares down 3.3% in premarket trading.
The Deerfield, Illinois-based company has been trying to reinstate production at its North Carolina plant, which makes 60% of the United States' supply of IV fluids and some key dialysis solutions, after it was closed in late September due to flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Baxter has said it aims to return to between 90% and 100% allocation of certain IV solutions by the end of 2024.
As a result of the hurricane, it expects total company fourth-quarter sales to be negatively impacted by about $200 million.
Baxter expects full-year adjusted profit between $2.90 and $2.94 per share, compared with its previous expectation of $2.93 to $3.01. Analysts were expecting a profit of $2.95 per share.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
