Dow Jones Newswires | Hospira Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 7.6 percent on restructuring charges, but adjusted results rose and beat analysts’ estimates as revenue jumped 15 percent.

Hospira reported a profit of $96.7 million, or 58 cents a share, down from $104.6 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier. Excluding items such as the write-downs, earnings rose to 87 cents from 78 cents. Revenue jumped 15 percent to $1.06 billion.

The maker of medical devices and injectable drugs also forecast 2010 earnings of $3.25 to $3.35 a share on revenue growth of 6 percent to 8 percent on an adjusted basis. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of $3.30 on 4 percent revenue growth.

Hospira said its sales again benefited from the new generic version of Sanofi-Aventis SA’s colon-cancer drug that Hospira launched in the third quarter. Hospira in December said it would pay $400 million to buy Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., , helping to expand its generic injectable antibiotics operations.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 69 cents on $963 million in revenue.

Gross margin fell to 37.4 percent from 39 percent.

Sales of specialty injectables–the company’s biggest revenue stream–jumped 26 percent. Medical management systems sales rose 5.3 percent.

Shares closed at $51.81 Wednesday and were inactive premarket. The stock has more than doubled the past year.