Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc posted a 14 percent decline in quarterly net profit on Tuesday, hurt by costs related to its spin-off of its medical technology company CareFusion.

But shares rose 3.4 percent to $34.49 in premarket trading as the company said it lifted its fiscal-year forecast for its stand-alone Cardinal business.

Fiscal fourth-quarter net earnings were $273.2 million, or 75 cents per share, compared with $318 million, or 88 cents a share, a year ago.

Results included 12 cents of special items and other costs, most of which was tied to the planned spin-off of CareFusion. The company said the spin-off remains on track to be completed at the end of the month.

Excluding special items, earnings were in line with analysts estimates, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $25.2 billion, ahead of the $24.4 billion expected by analysts.

Cardinal projected fiscal-year profit, excluding items, of $1.90 to $2.00 per share, which it said was an increase over its previous forecast of $1.87 to $1.91, implied in comments from its June investor day.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Healthcare