(By Mani) Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) said it plans to sell its HemoCue diagnostic products business to refocus on diagnostic information services, and its fourth quarter earnings were reduced by 6 cents a share due to Hurricane Sandy.
The sale of HemoCue business, which develops point-of-care testing systems, follows the divestiture of OralDNA products business, which was sold in December 2012. The company would take asset impairment charges of $89.5 million, or 56 cents a share, in the fourth quarter results related to these two sales.
As a result, the company's consolidated income statements for the full-year 2012 and 2011 will present the operating results of HemoCue and OralDNA as discontinued operations.
Separately, the company said, due to Hurricane Sandy, its fourth quarter revenues were reduced by an estimated $21 million, and operating income by an estimated $16 million.
Quest Diagnostics is expected to report its fourth-quarter results on Jan.23. Wall Street expects the company to earn $1.08 a share on revenue of $1.83 billion, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.