new brunswick johnson johnson beat firstquarter expectations as growth in the health care giants home market helped counter another revenue hit overseas from a strong dollarthe health care giant booked a 68 million loss on a onetime charge in the quarter and revenue grew more than 5 per cent to 2475 billion which was better than anticipatedadjusted earnings totalled 268 per share topping wall street projections for pershare earnings of 250 according to a survey by factsetjohnson johnson sells prescription drugs and medical devices it is splitting off its consumer health business which includes wellknown products like bandaids the company expects to complete the separation this yearsales in the us grew nearly 10 per cent to 1252 billion in the quarter while international sales climbed nearly 2 per centa strong us dollar can affect sales for companies that do a lot of international business they have to convert those sales into dollars when they report earnings the stronger dollar decreases the value of those sales it also gives foreign products a price edge in the united statesjj brings in nearly half of its revenue from outside the united statesjj board okd a 5 per cent increase in the companys quarterly dividend that bumps the amount up to 119 per share from 113 per sharethe new brunswick new jersey company on tuesday also boosted the lower end of its forecasted range for 2023 by a dime it now expects adjusted earnings of between 1050 and 1060 per shareanalysts expect earnings of 1051 per share this yearshares climbed in early morning trading