Merck KGaA shares dented by earnings prediction

14 May 2020

German life sciences company Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) suffered a 2% share price decline on Thursday after announcing its quarterly financial results.

The drop in share value was likely caused by Merck’s warning that its 2020 earnings will be limited by the strong restrictions of economic life and declining income in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with correspondingly adverse effects on the businesses.

For the first three months of the year, group net sales increased by 16.7% on the same quarter of 2019, rising to 4.4 billion euros ($4.75 billion), while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 27.2% to 1.2 billion euros, exceeding an average analyst estimate of 1.1 billion euros in a Refinitiv poll.

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