TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — Health care products maker Johnson & Johnson yesterday said its second-quarter profit fell 3.5 percent, as the global recession, weak dollar and generic competition took their toll on sales, particularly for prescription drugs.

Still, the world's most broadly based health care company handily beat Wall Street's restrained expectations, as J&J reduced spending on sales, administration and research by about 13 percent and production costs by six percent.

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based maker of baby shampoo, Tylenol, contraceptives and biotech drugs earned $3.21 billion, or $1.15 per share, down from $3.33 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 7.4 percent to $15.24 billion from $16.45 billion a year ago. The decline was partly due to a combined drop of nearly $1 billion for two medicines — antipsychotic drug Risperdal and epilepsy treatment Topamax — that recently got generic competition.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, were looking for earnings per share of $1.11 and revenue of $15 billion.

"This was one of the most difficult years in our history," chief financial officer Dominic Caruso told analysts during a conference call.

But he said operational results — sales excluding the impact of unfavorable currency exchange rates, which cut total revenue by about six percent — were better than expected.

"This is the best pharmaceutical report that you'll see out of this quarter," said analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities.

In an interview, Caruso said currency rates hurt the quarter's results the most, followed by lower sales of Risperdal and Topamax, each down two-thirds or more. Both lost US patent protection over the past year. Excluding those factors, he said, sales would have been up roughly $770 million, or 4.6 percent.

Johnson & Johnson confirmed its 2009 profit forecast, at $4.45 to $4.55 per share, excluding items.