BERLIN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Net sales from German science and technology company Merck KGaA (commonly known as Merck) amounted to 4.05 billion euros (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, marking an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the same period last year, the company announced on Thursday.
Net income of the company increased by 0.8 percent to 343 million euros between July and September.
"In the third quarter, we continued to resolutely implement our strategy," said Stefan Oschmann, chief executive officer (CEO) of Merck, adding that the German company had "substantially increased" sales and earnings because of a "strong performance" of its Healthcare and Life Science as well as all regions.
The company's Healthcare business sector increased its sales by 10.0 percent to about 1.76 billion euros in Q3, mainly due to Mavenclad, a prescription medicine for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, as well as the "high demand" for its medicines in China, Merck said.
The Life Science business of Merck saw its net sales increase by more than 12 percent to over 1.71 billion euros in Q3. This reflected "strong organic sales growth" as well as positive foreign exchange effects.
Merck's Performance Materials segment saw sales decline by 6.9 percent to 583 million euros in Q3, and the drop in the liquid crystal business continued, the company added.
Merck lifted its guidance for 2019 on Thursday following the closing of the acquisition of Versum Materials, a U.S. specialist for high-purity chemicals and gases, in October.
Merck is anticipating that the merger with Versum will contribute 270 million euros to its sales and is now expecting total net sales to range between 15.7 billion and 16.3 billion euros in 2019, up from its previous expectation. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Enditem
