Bristol-Myers Squibb's bottom line gained a boost from its subsidiary Mead Johnson Nutritionals in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Sales from Mead Johnson, based in Evansville, rose 6 percent to $707 million in the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb, which has owned Mead Johnson since 1967, announced in April that between 10 percent and 20 percent of the Enfamil manufacturer would be sold to the public through a stock offering. The sale is expected to take place in the first half of 2009.

On Tuesday, Bristol-Myers reported strong sales of the blockbuster blood thinner Plavix helped it post a sizable fourth- quarter profit Tuesday.

The drugmaker also said it expects to see some patients and payers cut back this year on drug spending because of the economic slowdown, but that it is less affected than some of its peers.

The New York-based maker of Abilify for bipolar disorder and Avapro for high blood pressure reported a net income of $1.24 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the October-December quarter. A year ago, Bristol-Myers reported a net loss of $89 million, or 5 cents per share, due to large charges for restructuring and losses from investments in subprime securities.

Excluding a host of one-time items totaling a gain of 17 cents, or about $340 million, fourth-quarter profit would have been 46 cents per share. Those items included $260 million in payments to partner biotechnology company Exelixis Inc. and $151 million for restructuring. It also included an $870 million gain after expenses for selling its ImClone Systems Inc. stock. Bristol-Myers lost its bid to buy ImClone to rival Eli Lilly & Co.

Revenue totaled $5.25 billion, up 4 percent from $5.06

billion in 2007's fourth quarter. U.S. pharmaceutical sales rose 13 percent, but foreign sales fell 9 percent due to unfavorable currency exchange rates, which pulled down the overall revenue by 4 percent, the company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings per share of 41 cents and revenue slightly higher, at $5.43 billion.

The analyst Les Funtleyder of Miller Tabak & Co. said the company's business operations appear to be improving and cost controls are strong. Bristol-Myers plans to cut $2.5 billion out of its annual expenses and has already closed manufacturing plants and eliminated a significant number of jobs, although it will not specify how many.

Chief Executive Jim Cornelius told analysts during a conference call that the company's 2009 forecast reflects the fact that patients and government health agencies may have less money to spend on medicines this year because of the global recession.