FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Merck KGaA predicted a return to modest operating earnings growth, when adjusted for currency headwinds, citing a gradual recovery in demand for specialty materials that are used to make biotech drugs and semiconductors.
In a statement on Thursday, the German group said that 2024 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-offs, would likely see slight to moderate currency-adjusted growth.
Foreign exchange effects are expected to drag earnings lower by between 1% and 4%, it added.
It also reported 14.2% lower 2023 adjusted EBITDA at 5.9 billion euros ($6.43 billion), which translates into a currency-adjusted decline of 9%, in line with the average analyst estimate posted on the company’s website.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Editing by Rachel More)
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