New Jersey, United States — Health care giant Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that its second-quarter profit fell nearly 20 per cent due to restructuring, recall and litigation costs and higher spending on overhead and research.

The results still topped Wall Street expectations.

The maker of Band-Aids, biologic medicines and birth control pills said its net income was US$2.78 billion, or US$1 per share. That’s down from US$3.45 billion, or US$1.23 per share, in the 2010 second quarter.

Revenue rose 8.3 per cent, to US$16.6 billion from US$15.33 billion a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, income would have been US$3.55 billion, or US$1.28 per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet, on average, were expecting earnings per share of US$1.24 and sales of US$16.21 billion.

The company, which recently got three new prescription drugs approved, noted recent product launches have gone well.

J&J has been under pressure over a string of more than 25 product recalls that have especially cut into consumer product sales. But the New Brunswick, New Jersey, company maintained its profit forecast for 2011, at US$4.90 to US$5 per share. That excludes the impact of one-time items. Analyst expect US$4.95 per share, on average.

Sales were up in all three of its businesses, led by prescription drugs, which saw sales jump 12 per cent to US$6.23 billion. That was mainly due to higher drug sales overseas and a big benefit from favorable currency exchange rates.

US revenue was flat at US$7.45 billion, but international sales jumped 16 per cent to US$9.15 billion, mainly on an 11 per cent benefit from exchange rates.

Sales of medical devices, J&J’s biggest division, rose seven per cent to US$6.57 billion. Consumer health products, which includes nonprescription medicines and skin, dental and hair care products, increased four per cent to US$3.79 billion.

“Our recently launched pharmaceutical products continued to achieve strong growth and contributed to our solid second-quarter results,” William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “We continue to invest in building leadership positions and capabilities, and our pending acquisition of Synthes demonstrates our ongoing commitment to serve patients while enhancing shareholder value.”

In April, J&J agreed to buy US-Swiss medical device maker Synthes Inc for US$21.3 billion. The deal could give J&J a dominant position in the growing market for orthopedic surgery products.

One-time items in the second quarter totaled US$991 million, including a US$676 million charge for restructuring its ailing Cordis heart device business, US$363 million for litigation costs and US$54 million for recalling defective DePuy hip implants. That was partially offset by a US$102 million gain from a currency option on the planned Synthes purchase.

For the first six months, net income dropped 21.6 per cent, to US$6.25 billion, or US$2.25 per share, from US$7.98 billion, or US$2.85 per share. Revenue rose 5.8 per cent, to US$32.77 billion, from US$30.96 billion.