Rewrites throughout to include CEO comments on tariffs

By Christy Santhosh and Kamal Choudhury

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Drug distributor Cardinal Health CAH.N said on Thursday it may need to increase prices of some of its products if the proposed tariffs on Mexico go into effect, to counter increasing costs of manufacturing in the region.

Redirecting production from Mexico is difficult as the cost of production is "pretty low cost" CEO Jason Hollar told Reuters in an interview.

Mexico, along with China and Canada, has been threatened with tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump unless the countries move to halt flows of illegal immigrants and the deadly opioid fentanyl into the U.S.

"If there are widespread tariffs anywhere from the 10% to 25% range, I anticipate there will be corresponding price increases for the customers," said Hollar.

Cardinal said it might move production away from China, where it has limited supply chain exposure but is also expected to be affected by tariffs, to Southeast Asia.

The company said it was closely monitoring the "highly fluid tariff environment" but did not specify if potential tariff impacts had been factored into its fiscal 2025 forecast.

Earlier in the day, the Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal said it expected an adjusted profit of $7.85-$8.00 per share, banking on strong demand for costly specialty medicines and branded drugs in its pharmaceuticals unit.

Cardinal had previously forecast a profit of $7.75 to $7.90 per share for fiscal year 2025 ending in June 30. Analysts were expecting a profit of $7.86 per share, according to LSEG data.

On an adjusted basis, Cardinal Health reported a profit of $1.93 per share in the second-quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $1.76 per share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))