Merck KGaA 4th-qtr net income well below expectations, but sales and EBITDA beat

German life sciences major Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) this morning posted financial results for 2015, showing that sales for the fourth quarter were up 16% at 3.46 billion euros ($3.80 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of 3.44 billion euros, the Bloomberg survey showed.

However, net income dropped 55% to 125.7 million euros in the quarter due expenses tied to the takeover of Sigma-Aldrich, and was well below the 280 million euros analysts were expecting. Merck’s shares fell as much as 2.7% and traded down 1.02% at 78.90 euros at 11.54 am in Frankfurt trading.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and excluding some costs, rose 6.3% to 933.4 million euros, the company said, which was higher than the 912.7 million-euro average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.