By Matt Grossman

Abbott Laboratories Wednesday logged hearty profit growth in the latest quarter as a world-wide surge in demand for the company's Covid-19 diagnostics services contributed to higher revenue year over year.

The Abbott Park, Ill.-based maker of healthcare products posted fourth-quarter net earnings of $2.16 billion, or $1.20 a share, compared with a profit of $1.05 billion, or 59 cents a share, in the same three-month period a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company's profit was $1.45 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were forecasting a fourth-quarter adjusted profit of $1.35 a share.

Revenue climbed 29% to $10.7 billion, up from $8.31 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected revenue of $9.94 billion.

Revenue from Abbott's largest segment by sales, diagnostics, more than doubled year over year to $4.35 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by demand for the company's Covid-19 testing products. Covid-19 testing sales totaled $2.4 billion in the quarter.

Medical-devices revenue grew by 1.7% year over year to $3.26 billion, as sales of the company's diabetes-care products helped buffer it from lower revenue from cardiovascular and neromodulation devices during the pandemic.

Sales of nutrition products such as Ensure grew by 3.6% to $1.94 billion.

Revenue from Abbott's business that sells generic medications internationally declined 2.3% to $1.15 billion as Covid-19 weighed on the segment's sales in several countries, Abbott said.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-27-21 0806ET