New YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - The US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Wednesday
said its earnings for the first quarter had declined from last year
but beat analysts' expectations.

The company's earnings came in at $3.12 billion, or $0.55 per share.


This compares with $5.54 billion, or $0.97 per share, in last year's
first quarter.

Excluding items, Pfizer reported adjusted earnings of $4.67 billion
or $0.82 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $0.52 per share,
according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Their estimates
typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the quarter fell 19.5% to $14.88 billion
from $18.49 billion last year.


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