Merck & Co rises 2.3% as it beats 4th quarter 2009 sales forecast, boosted by Schering-Plough

US drugs giant Merck & Co saw its shares rise2.0% to $37.78 in early trading yesterday after it posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2009 revenues as a result its $41.1 billion merger with fellow major Schering-Plough which was completed in early November last year. However, because a full quarter of S-P's figures could not be included, it declined to give guidance for 2010 until its next report, for the first quarter of this year in April, though it did say it expected earnings per share growth in 2013.

Merck's EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.79 (excluding non-recurring items), but was lower than the $0.87 reported in the year-ago period. For the full-year of 2009, Merck reported EPS of $3.25, down from $3.42 in 2008.

Revenues for the quarter were $10 billion compared to $6 billion in the like quarter of 2008. However, this is not comparable since the reported quarter's results include Schering-Plough operations since the closure of merger on November 3, 2009. Revenues were favorably impacted by 1% due to foreign exchange movement.