Profit after income tax at German pharmaceutical firm Merck declined 12.5% to €699 million ($756.9 million) in the first quarter from €800 million in the same period last year, the company said on Wednesday.
Earnings per share were €1.6 down from €1.83 in the previous year.
Sales decreased by about 3.3% to €5.12 billion in the first quarter year-on year, Merck reported. Organic sales for the quarter were down 1.2%.
Foreign exchange effects, mainly from the Chinese yuan, had a negative impact of 2% on the sales development.
Merck confirmed qualitative guidance for fiscal 2024, when it expects to return to organic sales and earnings growth for the group.
The company also projects annual earnings per share pre to be in the range of €8.05 to €9.10.
Merck expects annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to be in a range of €5.7 billion to €6.3 billion with organic growth of 1% to 7% and negative foreign exchange effects of -4% to -1%.
The company anticipates annual net sales to be in a range of €20.6 billion to €22.1 billion with organic growth of 1% to 5% and foreign exchange effects of -3% to 0%.