Abbott posts quarterly loss on $1.4 billion tax charge

(Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories reported fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday compared with a year-ago profit, as the diversified healthcare company took a $1.4 billion charge due to the recent U.S. tax overhaul.

It posted a net loss of $828 million, or 48 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $798 million, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose to $7.59 billion from $5.33 billion.

(Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)