Merck KGaA Q2 Profit Down, Sales Edge Up; Maintains Recently Revised FY24 View

(RTTNews) - German science and technology major Merck KgaA (MKGAY.PK) Thursday reported that its second-quarter profit after income tax dropped 14.3 percent to 605 million euros from last year's 706 million euros.

Earnings per share were 1.40 euros, down 13.6 percent from 1.62 euros a year ago.

Earnings per share pre was 2.20 euros, same as last year.

EBITDA pre was down 0.8 percent organically to 1.5 billion euros, and group EBITDA pre margin was 28.2 percent.

Net sales for the quarter edged up 0.9 percent to 5.35 billion euros from last year's 5.30 billion euros. Group net sales went up organically by 1.7 percent.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2024, Merck maintains its outlook, which was revised on July 27, for the Group as well as for the Healthcare and Electronics business sectors.

The company now expects earnings per share pre to be about 8.20 euros to 9.30 euros, higher than the prior view of 8.05 euros to 9.10 euros.

EBITDA pre is now expected to be about 5.8 billion euros to 6.4 billion euros, representing organic growth of 4 percent to 10 percent. Previously, the company expected EBITDA pre of between 5.7 billion euros and 6.3 billion euros for the year.

Net sales are now expected in a range of around 20.7 billion euros to 22.1 billion euros, with organic growth of 2 percent to 5 percent. The prior view was 20.6 billion euros to 22.1 billion euros.

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