Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, met its targets for 2017 and achieved important strategic successes with the approvals of two new medicines. Sales increased over the previous year whereas EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), which was adversely impacted by negative foreign exchange effects, declined slightly.
“2017 was a good year for us. We performed well in a challenging environment and met all our targets for the year,” said Stefan Oschmann, chairman of the executive board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “We are staying the course and will continue to purposefully implement our innovation-driven growth strategies for Healthcare, Life Science and Performance Materials. In addition, we are resolutely working to quickly lower our acquisition-related debt-to-equity ratio.”
In 2017, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated net sales of € 15.3 billion ($18.8 billion) compared to € 15.0 billion ($18.5 billion) in 2016. This increase of two percent over the previous year was mainly attributable to the strong organic sales performance of the Healthcare and Life Science business sectors. At Group level, all regions contributed to the organic sales growth of 3.8 percent.
However, the stronger euro resulted in negative foreign exchange effects of -1.5 percent. Acquisitions and divestments caused Group net sales to decline by -0.3 percent. The operating result (EBIT) rose by 1.8 percent to € 2.5 billion ($3 billion). EBITDA pre, the company’s most important earnings figure, declined by -1.7 percent to € 4.4 billion ($5.4 billion), down from € 4.5 billion ($5.5 billion) in 2016. Apart from the difficult foreign exchange environment, the adjustment process in the Liquid Crystals business also contributed to this.
For more detailed information, see the full report.
(Source: Merck KGaA)
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
