Abbott reports sharp rise in earnings

Abbott Laboratories' quarterly earnings from continuing operations were roughly in line with Wall Street forecasts, rising sharply on demand for the company's nutritional and diagnostic products.

Abbott, which split off its branded drugs business at the beginning of the year into a new company called AbbVie, today reported a first-quarter profit of $544 million, or 34 cents per share, from continuing operations.

That compared with year-earlier net earnings from continuing operations of $351 million, or 22 cents per share.