J&J cuts forecast, discloses grand jury probe

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) says it's been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury and is cooperating in an investigation into the series of high-profile recalls of its consumer drugs. And it's facing other legal actions stemming from those recalls, including lawsuits against its McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit and ongoing government probes, CNN Money reports.

Meanwhile, the company offered its own estimate of its ability to weather that recent spate of recalls and high-profile manufacturing snafus. J&J cut its profits forecast for the year to $4.65 to $4.75 per share, down from the $4.80 to $4.90 it had predicted in April. The company says part of that decrease stems from currency effects. But it also cited those recalls--and the shutdown of a key consumer-drugs factory, which is keeping a slew of top products such as Tylenol and Motrin off the shelves.

Meanwhile, the company met analyst expectations for second-quarter adjusted earnings at $1.21 per share, or $3.45 billion in profits. But its worldwide pharma sales grew by less than 1 percent, and that embattled consumer-drugs segment saw sales fall more than 5 percent to $3.6 billion.

We'll be interested to see what J&J execs say during their earnings call with analysts. It will be the first time CEO Bill Weldon (photo)has been open for questions since the huge children's drug recall was announced back in June. In a statement, he says, "Remedial actions to address the product quality issues at McNeil Consumer Healthcare are ongoing and of high importance." We'd like more details on those actions--and on the new grand jury subpoena. We're sure you do, too.

- check out the J&J release
- get more from CNN Money
- see the MarketWatch news
- read the article from Reuters

ALSO: J&J says Ian E.L. Davis, a former chairman of international consulting firm McKinsey & Co., has been named to its board of directors. Report

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