Merck KGaA sees 2008 loss on acquisition costs and crystals, but pharma good

Charges still resulting from the acquisition of Swiss firm Serono two years ago, a poor showing from its Liquid Crystals business and  lower-than-expected sales of its psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab)  took their toll on German drug major Merck KGaA, which posted a net loss  of 279.5 million euros ($357.7 million) for the fourth quarter of 2008  compared with a profit of 3.39 billion euros in the like, year-earlier  period. The market's immediate reaction was to push the shares 7.3%  lower, though they recovered over the course of the day, February 18,  to just 2.1% lower at 61.73 euros. Group turnover for the three months  was up 5.4% at 1.9 billion euros.

For the full year, the Darmstadt-headquartered company recorded a sales  increase of 7.1% to 7.56 billion euros, helped by higher revenues from  pharmaceuticals and royalty income, but generated net profit of just  367.1 million, a slump of 89.5% on 2007.

Pharma sales up 11%