Becton Dickinson & Co recorded a decent increase in profit for the fourth quarter at 12 per cent. The revenue for the quarter also rose by 5 per cent all due to the high sales in the diagnostic and medical unit of the company.

Although many companies have been dearly affected by the recession, Becton had made steady progress, completely unaffected, as most of its products are critical necessities such as catheters and surgical blades.

The medical segment of the company, notably the largest, had a surge of about 8 per cent topping the 5 per cent increase of the diagnostics segment. However, the biosciences business saw a 5 percent drop in the revenue because of the change in the exchange rate of currencies.

Becton is already looking forward to the next year, and expects it to be economical and to rise by about 3 per cent with 6 per cent increase in sales. Analysts also expect the following year to bring forth similar profits.