Merck KGaA: profit down on high comparison basis
(CercleFinance.com) - German drugmaker Merck KGaA reported lower Q1 earnings on Tuesday, hurt by a high comparison basis in the previous year.
EBITDA pre - the group's most important earnings indicator - fell by 4% to 929 million euros in the first quarter.
EBITDA was down 2% in organic terms, Merck said, as positive one-time effects in the previous quarter last year in the healthcare business created a high comparison basis.
Net sales rose by 7.5% to 3.7 billion euros, driven by Asia, with sales up 5.7% in organic terms, which was slightly better than expected.
Following this "solid" first quarter, Merck continues to expect moderate FY 2019 organic net sales growth of between 3% and 5%, with EBITDA pre in a range of between 4.15 billion euros and 4.35 billion euros.
Investors were not convinced by this news, with the shares down 1.5% at 93.8 euros in Frankfurt this morning.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
EBITDA pre - the group's most important earnings indicator - fell by 4% to 929 million euros in the first quarter.
EBITDA was down 2% in organic terms, Merck said, as positive one-time effects in the previous quarter last year in the healthcare business created a high comparison basis.
Net sales rose by 7.5% to 3.7 billion euros, driven by Asia, with sales up 5.7% in organic terms, which was slightly better than expected.
Following this "solid" first quarter, Merck continues to expect moderate FY 2019 organic net sales growth of between 3% and 5%, with EBITDA pre in a range of between 4.15 billion euros and 4.35 billion euros.
Investors were not convinced by this news, with the shares down 1.5% at 93.8 euros in Frankfurt this morning.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.