Printed Electronics Now Staff05.18.20
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, grew profitably in the first quarter of 2020. In comparison with the year-earlier quarter, group net sales increased by 16.7% to €4.4 billion.
EBITDA pre, the company’s most important earnings indicator, rose by 27.2% to €1.2 billion. The COVID-19 crisis, which has meanwhile become a pandemic, only had a moderate impact in the first quarter of 2020.
However, the company expects the effects to amplify in the coming months and has also taken this into account in its forecast for fiscal 2020. For this year, the company expects group net sales of between €16.8 billion and €17.8 billion as well as EBITDA pre in a range of €4.35 billion to €4.85 billion.
“In recent weeks, many companies have throttled or even stopped their production activities for understandable reasons. Many parts of our business are essential, so we of course continued our operations. Patients, researchers and customers around the world rely on us. The good business results in the first quarter show that we have successfully mastered the crisis so far,” said Stefan Oschmann, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO.
The strength of having a diversified business portfolio can be seen during increasingly uncertain times. In the first quarter, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic varied between the group’s businesses but still permitted a strong quarter.
The company saw higher demand in the General Medicine & Endocrinology franchise of the Healthcare business sector, also as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recovery that had been forecast for 2020 in the Semiconductor Materials business was not impeded in the first quarter. This contrasted with decreases in other areas owing to the economic slowdown and further pandemic-related restrictions in numerous countries, for instance in the Fertility franchise or in the Surface Solutions business unit of the Performance Materials business sector.
EBITDA pre, the company’s most important earnings indicator, rose by 27.2% to €1.2 billion. The COVID-19 crisis, which has meanwhile become a pandemic, only had a moderate impact in the first quarter of 2020.
However, the company expects the effects to amplify in the coming months and has also taken this into account in its forecast for fiscal 2020. For this year, the company expects group net sales of between €16.8 billion and €17.8 billion as well as EBITDA pre in a range of €4.35 billion to €4.85 billion.
“In recent weeks, many companies have throttled or even stopped their production activities for understandable reasons. Many parts of our business are essential, so we of course continued our operations. Patients, researchers and customers around the world rely on us. The good business results in the first quarter show that we have successfully mastered the crisis so far,” said Stefan Oschmann, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO.
The strength of having a diversified business portfolio can be seen during increasingly uncertain times. In the first quarter, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic varied between the group’s businesses but still permitted a strong quarter.
The company saw higher demand in the General Medicine & Endocrinology franchise of the Healthcare business sector, also as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recovery that had been forecast for 2020 in the Semiconductor Materials business was not impeded in the first quarter. This contrasted with decreases in other areas owing to the economic slowdown and further pandemic-related restrictions in numerous countries, for instance in the Fertility franchise or in the Surface Solutions business unit of the Performance Materials business sector.
