Corrected: Merck Serono posts lower operating profit in Q4

01 March 2007 22:19  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “Merck Serono posts lower operating profit in Q4” dated 1 March 2007, please read in the first paragraph … (€102m) … instead of … (€176m) …. A corrected story follows.

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Merck KGaA on Thursday reported an 18.4% fall in its fourth-quarter operating profit for the Serono group, to $134m (€102m) from the same period a year ago.

It did not provide reasons for the fall in earnings.

The German chemical and pharmaceutical group bought Serono for $13.3bn last year. It officially launched Merck Serono after the closing of a share purchase agreement in early January. Merck now holds 99.1% of the Swiss biopharmaceuticals company and it will reach 100% ownership shortly.

However, for the full year, Serono posted $736.6m in operating profits compared with a $126.2m loss a year ago, Merck said in a statement, adding that operating margin and revenue growth led to the strong performance.

Fourth-quarter revenues for the Serono group rose 10.4% to $739.2m from the same period a year ago on higher sales for sclerosis drugs Rebif and Raptiva, it added.

"The record sales for Q4 (fourth quarter) demonstrates that our employees have kept their focus on delivering results during this period of transition," Merck’s chief executive Elmar Schnee said.

Serono’s fourth-quarter net profit rose 35.8% to $195.7m from the same period a year ago.

Its full-year sales reached $2.8bn, up 8.5% from a year ago. The company turned in a net profit of $735.4m from a $106.1m loss in 2005.

($1 = €0.76)

 

By: Florence Tan
+65 6780 4359

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