"Our outlook remains unchanged from the guidance we provided during our Third
Quarter 2001 financial conference call on October 19, 2001," said Mr. Freeman.
"We remain comfortable with the consensus of analyst expectations for fourth
quarter earnings of $0.48 per diluted share, as reported by First Call. We
continue to expect full year earnings per diluted share before special items to
grow more than 65%. In 2002, we continue to expect to deliver earnings per share
growth in excess of 30%. This increase is before the additional $0.35 per
diluted share we expect to realize from the change in goodwill accounting that
becomes effective on January 1, 2002. We continue to remain highly confident in
our ability to deliver sustainable outstanding performance for our
shareholders."
Quest Diagnostics is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing,
information and services with $3.4 billion in annual revenues. The company's
diagnostic testing yields information that enables health care professionals and
consumers to make better decisions to improve health. Quest Diagnostics offers
patients and physicians the broadest access to diagnostic testing services
through its national network of approximately 30 full-service laboratories, 150
rapid response laboratories and more than 1,300 patient service centers, where
specimens are collected. Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of esoteric
testing, including gene-based testing, and is the leader in routine medical
testing, drugs of abuse testing, and non-hospital- based anatomic pathology
testing. Quest Diagnostics empowers health care organizations and clinicians
with state-of-the-art connectivity solutions that improve practice management.
Through partnerships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and information
technology companies, Quest Diagnostics provides support to help speed the
development of health care insights and new therapeutics. Additional company
information can be found on the Internet at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com.
The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or
information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially
different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are listed in the Quest
Diagnostics Incorporated 2000 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
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CONTACT: Media - Gary Samuels, +1-201-393-5700, or Investors - Cathy
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URL: http://www.questdiagnostics.com
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