Merck Reports Profit in 3Q Results

The global healthcare company Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has reported an increase in the third quarter profits as compared to the last year’s numbers.

The raise is attributed to the 8 percent growth in the revenues from the improved performance of the company’s asthma and diabetes medicines along with other lower items. The adjusted earnings on Merck crossed the expectations of Wall Street there by raising the lower end of non-GAAP earning forecast of the company.

Merck & Co. in a report said earlier today that the previous year’s profits were weighed down by acquisitions and legal charges. The company’s shares rose by 2.5 percent or 84 cents to reach $35.15 in the New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The chief executive officer of Merck, Kenneth Frazier said that the company’s top and bottom line growth in three consecutive quarters has showcased the ability to perform consistently and at the same time it is necessary to make strategic investments for the future of the company.

The company which manufactures Januvia, the diabetes drug and Singulair for asthma and allergies has declared that the net income rose by 55 cents a share to $1.69 billion in the July to September period from 11 cents per share or $ 342 million in the previous year.

Up on excluding the restructuring and acquisition charges in the recent quarter, the adjusted income of Merck stood at 94 cents per share. The charges in question are mostly related to the acquisitio0n of Schering Plough Corp., a drug manufacturer for a sum of $49 billion in November 2009.

Merck’s revenue rose by 8 percent to $12.02 billion from $11.12 billion which beat the analysts’ expectations of about $11.62 billion. The currency exchange rate also seems to have been favorable to the company and increased the revenue by 5 percent. The lower end of this year’s forecasts was raised to a new range by the company. The forecasts range from $3.72 to $3.76 a share or after the exclusion of onetime items it will be $2.03 to $2.20 a share.

Merck saw a 10 percent surge in the sales of its leading drug, Singulair at $1.34 billion. The total sales from the prescription drugs were totaled to be $10.35 billion.  Januvia and Janumet, the other prescription drugs also showed a 40 percent increase in sales to reach a value of $846 million and $350 million respectively.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.