Johnson & Johnson announced unaudited consolidated earnings results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2017. For the quarter, the company reported sales to customers of $20,195 million against $18,106 million a year ago. Earnings before provision for taxes on income were $2,560 million against $4,324 million a year ago. Net loss was $10,713 million or $3.99 per basic/diluted share against net earnings of $3,814 million or $1.38 per basic/diluted share a year ago. Adjusted earnings before provision for taxes on income were $5,251 million against $5,103 million a year ago. Adjusted net earnings were $4,777 million or $1.74 per diluted share against $4,361 million or $1.58 per diluted share a year ago. Operational sales results increased 9.4% and the positive impact of currency was 2.1%.

For the year, the company reported sales to customers of $76,450 million against $71,890 million a year ago. Earnings before provision for taxes on income were $17,673 million against $19,803 million a year ago. Net earnings were $1,300 million or $0.47 per diluted share against $16,540 million or $5.93 per diluted share a year ago. Adjusted earnings before provision for taxes on income were $24,212 million against $22,759 million a year ago. Adjusted net earnings were $20,040 million or $7.30 per diluted share against $18,764 million or $6.73 per diluted share a year ago. Operational results increased 6.0% and the positive impact of currency was 0.3%.

The company announced its 2018 full-year guidance for sales of $80.6 billion to $81.4 billion reflecting expected operational growth in the range of 3.5% to 4.5%. The company also announced adjusted earnings guidance for full-year 2018 of $8.00 to $8.20 per share reflecting expected operational growth in the range of 6.8% to 9.6%. Adjusted earnings guidance excludes the impact of after-tax intangible amortization expense and special items. At this time, company would suggest models reflect an effective tax rate for 2018 excluding special items of approximately 16.5% to 18%. This reflects approximately 1.5% to 2.5% positive impact on company normalized tax rate as a result of new U.S. tax legislation. With regard to pretax operating margins and not including the impact of any special items, the company expects to improve margins in 2018 by approximately 100 basis points as the company continues key margin improvement initiatives in company business. The company also expects, as a result of the lower tax rate on U.S. earnings, that company will see increased investment in R&D in 2018, which would mitigate any further operating margin improvement.

For 2019, operational sales guidance on an underlying basis, which excludes acquisitions and divestitures, is expected to reflect growth of between 2.5% and 3.5%, which is an acceleration from 2017.