RE: Do you guys13 May 2018 01:26
From Merck's own webpage, year ending 2017..'Healthcare generated sales of € 704 million (2016: € 753 million). The organic sales decline of -4.6% resulted primarily from performance in North America and Europe. The strong year-earlier sales in North America were due to a favorable competitive situation. Additionally, foreign exchange effects had an adverse impact of -1.8%.
In 2017, the Consumer Health business generated organic sales growth in all main sales regions totaling 7.6%. Including currency headwinds of -0.5% and a portfolio effect of -1.0%, net sales of the business amounted to € 911 million (2016: € 860 million). This development was attributable especially to the global core strategic brands, particularly Neurobion and Nasivin, as well as the regional brand Vigantol, which is primarily marketed in Europe. In September 2017, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced that it is preparing strategic options for the Consumer Health business.
Life Science grows profitably in 2017.
In 2017, the Life Science business sector generated organic sales growth of 5.3%, which was partly canceled out by negative foreign exchange effects of –1.7%. Net sales increased by 4.0% to € 5.9 billion (2016: € 5.7 billion). In 2017, all three business units contributed positively to the organic sales growth of Life Science.
In 2017, net sales of the Performance Materials business sector decreased by -2.6% to € 2.4 billion (2016: € 2.5 billion). This was mainly due to an organic sales decline of -1.7% as the Display Materials business did not reach the previous year’s level. The stronger euro compared with 2016 also impacted the development of net sales by -0.9%.