ABBOTT Laboratories reported a rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday (Apr 20) helped by strong demand for its Covid-19 tests and a rebound in medical device sales.

Abbott, which provides Covid-19 testing kits and facilities, benefited from a surge in testing demand as cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in the United States reached record levels in January.

Still, the company left its full-year adjusted earnings forecast unchanged.

Covid-19 test kits brought in revenue of US$3.3 billion in the quarter, boosting total sales at its diagnostics business, which grew 31.7 per cent on a reported basis.

A rebound in demand for elective procedures boosted sales of medical devices as coronavirus cases dropped in the latter half of the quarter.

Abbott now forecast US$4.5 billion in Covid-19 testing sales this year, which it expects will occur largely in the first half of the year.

The Illinois-based company reiterated that it expects 2022 adjusted profit per share to be at least US$4.70. REUTERS