Sales Advance 21% At Schering AG In 1st Qtr

German pharmaceutical group Schering AG has announced sales for thefirst quarter of 1997 of 1.21 million Deutschemarks ($694 million), an increase of 21% on the like, year-earlier period. Around 4% of this figure resulted from positive foreign exchange rates, particularly the strong US dollar.

The firm said that it is finalizing its balance sheet for the quarter, and that it has become evident that the first-quarter result is within the scope of its forecast for the whole year.

Giuseppe Vita, Schering's chairman, said that the US dollar has developed in the group's favor, ie that it has gained in value against the mark. Given the current exchange rates, he expects a slight double-digit increase in profits for the group for the year as a whole. The rise will be somewhere between 10% and 15%, he added. Sales are expected to rise around 14% to 6 billion marks. This growth will come primarily from products for fertility control and hormone therapy as well as therapeutics, he said.