Merck KGaA 1st-qtr 2015 profits rise, but miss forecasts

German pharma and specialty materials group Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) posted first-quarter 2015 financials this morning, showing that group revenue increased 15.7% to 3.04 billion euros ($3.48 billion), just beating the average estimate of 3.02 billion euros from nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) excluding one-time items rose 5.7% year-on-year to 853 million euros but fell short of the 863.5 million-euro average of eight analyst estimates polled by Bloomberg. Net income fell 13.4% to 282 million euros due to extra financial costs relating to a planned acquisition of US chemicals firm Sigma-Aldrich. Merck’s shares dipped 1.7% to 100.50 euros in early trading.

“We are pleased that all three business sectors grew despite a challenging environment,” said Karl-Ludwig Kley, chief executive of Merck, adding: “We continue to expect slight organic sales growth for the full year as well….In 2015, we plan to invest heavily in immuno-oncology and together with Pfizer we want to build a strong position in this emerging research area.”