Life Science Unit of Merck KGaA Sees 30.7% Q3 EBITDA Growth
German multinational science and technology company Merck KGaA announced its Life Science unit, which supplies tools and materials for the whole pharmaceutical value chain, saw adjusted earnings jump 30.7% in the third quarter, driven by demand related to COVID-19.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-off items, for the division reached 824 million euros.
In an unscheduled press release last week, Merck raised its full-year profit forecast again, citing very strong performance at its Life Science unit, and published forecast-beating group earnings for the quarter. According to Merck, all business sectors – first and foremost Life Science – will contribute to organic growth.
In Q3, Life Science generated organic sales growth of 17.1%. Foreign exchange effects contributed 0.6% to sales growth. Consequently, sales of the business sector increased by a total of 17.7% to € 2.2 billion compared with the year-earlier quarter. In the third quarter, EBITDA pre of Life Science increased by 30.7% to € 824 million. The EBITDA pre margin was 36.6%.
Key business developments in Life Science in the third quarter:
- The Process Solutions business unit, which markets products and services for the entire pharmaceutical value chain, generated organic sales growth of 27.6%. This strong development was driven by additional business in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic and continued high demand in the base business.
- Sales of the Research Solutions business unit, which provides products and services to support life science research for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic research laboratories, increased organically by 6.8%. In particular, strong demand in the base business had a positive impact.
- Applied Solutions, the business with products for researchers as well as scientific and industrial laboratories, generated organic sales growth of 7.9% thanks to solid demand in the base business and recovery from the lockdown effects in 2020.
Original Source: Merck Group Press Release – Featured Image: © Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany
