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Merck KGaA Q4 earnings fall YOY; moderate sales growth in 2018 expected

Germany's Merck KGaA said fourth-quarter 2017 pre-exceptional EBITDA fell 6.5%, and forecast moderate sales growth in 2018.

The company booked pre-exceptional EBITDA of €1.01 billion, or €1.31 per share, compared to €1.08 billion, or €1.43 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for the fourth quarter was €1.35.

Net sales for the quarter reached about €3.85 billion, up 0.5% from €3.83 billion in the year-ago period. Operating result, or EBIT, for the quarter fell 40.5% to €241 million, from €405 million a year earlier. Merck said the growth in sales is due to the strong performance of its healthcare and life science business sectors.

Full-year 2017 pre-exceptional EPS was €6.16, down 0.8% from €6.21 in 2016.

The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for full year 2017 is €6.21.

For full year 2017, the company reported pre-exceptional EBITDA of €4.41 billion, a decline of 1.7% from €4.49 billion in 2016. Full-year 2017 net sales reached about €15.33 billion, up 2% compared to €15.02 billion the prior year. Operating result, or EBIT, rose 1.8% to about €2.53 billion from about €2.48 billion.

The company said its performance materials business unit recorded an organic sales decline of 1.7% in 2017, and that the market environment for well-established liquid crystal technologies has become more difficult, especially in China.

For 2018, the pharmaceutical giant expects moderate organic growth in sales, and a slight percentage decline in EBITDA pre, with an expected loss of 4% to 6% impact from foreign exchanges rates.