Merck KGaA 3Q Sales, Earnings Rose; Fine-Tunes 2022 Outlook

By Cecilia Butini

Merck KGaA on Thursday posted rising earnings and sales for the third quarter and revised its outlook for 2022, raising it for the life-science business while cutting the forecast for its electronics arm.

The German healthcare and technology company posted after-tax profit of 926 million euros ($927.3 million) for the period, up from EUR764 million the year prior. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization--a closely-watched metric that strips off some one-off items and which the company refers to as Ebitda pre--was EUR1.81 billion, up from EUR1.55 billion in the previous year.

Analysts had expected after-tax profit to be EUR988 million and Ebitda pre at EUR1.80 billion.

Sales were EUR5.81 billion, up from EUR4.97 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

Merck lifted its forecast for the life-science business and lowered it for the electronics division. It said it confirmed the mid point of the absolute range for sales, Ebitda pre and EPS at group level.

Total company sales are now expected in the range between EUR22 billion and EUR22.9 billion, slighly up from a previous guidance range of between EUR21.9 billion and EUR23 billion. Ebitda pre is expected in a range of between EUR6.80 billion and EUR7.20 billion, up from a previous guidance range of between EUR6.75 billion to EUR7.25 billion, Merck said.

Write to Cecilia Butini at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2022 01:49 ET (06:49 GMT)

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