UPDATE: Abbott Q1 Earnings Reflect AbbVie Separation

Abbott Laboratories

reported a 56% drop in its first-quarter earnings. Abbott's quarterly profit fell to $544 million, or $0.34 per share, from $1.24 billion, or $0.78 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its adjusted earnings from continuing operations rose to $0.42 from $0.40 per share. Note that Q1 2012 included former proprietary pharmaceuticals business, AbbVie

, from which Abbott Laboratories separated from on January 1, 2013. Its net sales surged 1.8% to $5.38 billion. Abbott in January expected earnings of $0.40 to $0.42 per share. Its operating margin widened to 11.4% from 9.7%. Abbott shares dropped 1.10% to $36.00 in pre-market trading.