Merck & Co 1st-qtr sales down 9%, coming below analysts' expectations; lowers guidance

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) posted first-quarter 2013 results, showing that worldwide sales were down 9% to $10.7 billion, below the $11.09 billion Wall Street was expecting, primarily as a result of patent expiries, and including a 2% unfavorable impact from foreign exchange. Shares of Merck fell 4.5% to $44.85 in early trading yesterday (May 1).

Net income fell 8.6% to $1.59 billion, or $0.52 per share, compared with $1.74 billion, or $0.56 per share, in the year-earlier quarter, when Merck took charges for $1.6 billion of acquisition and restructuring costs. First-quarter earnings per share, excluding one-time items, were $0.85, beating by $0.06 the average of 17 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The company also announced new $15 billion share repurchase program, planning to repurchase about $7.5 billion of common stock over the next 12 months, and revised downward its 2013 full-year non-GAAP EPS target to $3.45 to $3.55, shy of Wall Street estimates of $3.63 and $0.15 lower than its guidance in February. Excluding certain items, it revised the GAAP EPS range to between $1.92 and $2.16.