Berlin, May 12, (dpa/GNA) - German pharmaceutical company Merck reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income increased 18% to €880 million ($920 million).
Profit after tax was €884 million, up 18.2% from last year’s €748 million. Earnings per share improved 17.4% to €2.02 from €1.72 a year ago.
Earnings per share were €2.41, compared to €2.18 a year earlier.
Net sales increased 12.2% to €5.20 billion from the prior year’s €4.63 billion. Organic growth of group sales was attributable to all three business sectors and totalled 7.8%.
Looking ahead, Merck specified its forecast for fiscal 2022, compared to the previous estimate of strong organic growth in earnings and net sales.
The forecast for earnings per share is in a range between €9.60 and €10.50.
Further, the company now expects organic sales growth of 6% to 9% and net sales of between €21.6 billion and €22.8 billion, compared to last year’s €19.7 billion.
GNA