Merck: shares broadly flat after in-line results
(CercleFinance.com) - Germany's Merck said on Thursday that it has achieved its financial targets for 2018, in what it called "a year of transition.
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Sales rose by 2.2% to 14.8 billion euros in the past year, with strong organic sales growth of 6.1%, the Darmstadt-based company said.
Its operating result - or EBITDA pre, the company's most important earnings indicator - declined by 10.5% to 3.8 billion euros.
In its statement, Merck pointed out that its 2017 results benefited from a gain made on the divestment of its biosimilars business.
For 2019, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals group said it expects "moderate" organic growth in sales. Regarding EBITDA pre, Merck expects a "pronounced" organic percentage growth in the low-teens range, it said.
After these "in line" numbers, Merck KGaA shares are currently down 0.1% at 93.1 euros, although are outperforming a 0.4% decline in Germany's blue-chip DAX index.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
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Sales rose by 2.2% to 14.8 billion euros in the past year, with strong organic sales growth of 6.1%, the Darmstadt-based company said.
Its operating result - or EBITDA pre, the company's most important earnings indicator - declined by 10.5% to 3.8 billion euros.
In its statement, Merck pointed out that its 2017 results benefited from a gain made on the divestment of its biosimilars business.
For 2019, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals group said it expects "moderate" organic growth in sales. Regarding EBITDA pre, Merck expects a "pronounced" organic percentage growth in the low-teens range, it said.
After these "in line" numbers, Merck KGaA shares are currently down 0.1% at 93.1 euros, although are outperforming a 0.4% decline in Germany's blue-chip DAX index.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.