Merck's Q3 net profit decreased by 35% year on year to US $1.12 billion

Source: gucheng.com announced the third quarter financial report of 2013 fiscal year on December 2, 2013 Merck's third quarter net profit was $1.12 billion, down 35% from $1.73 billion in the same period last year, the report said, mainly due to the loss of patent protection for Sulin, a drug used to treat asthma in adults and children, resulting in a drop in sales In this fiscal quarter, Merck's net profit was $11.2 and earnings per share was 38 cents, less than the same period last year In the third quarter of fy2012, Merck's net profit was $1.73 billion and earnings per share was 56 cents Excluding restructuring and M & A expenses and other one-off items, Merck's adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter were 92 cents, down from 95 cents in the same period last year, but still higher than analysts had expected Analysts expect Merck to earn an average of 88 cents a share in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters Merck's third quarter revenue was $11.03 billion, down 4% from the same period last year, and the impact of excluding exchange rate changes was 2% lower than analysts had expected Analysts expect Merck's revenue to average $11.12 billion in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters In the third quarter, Merck's pharmaceutical sales fell 4.1% year-on-year, while the impact of exchange rate changes not included was a 2% year-on-year decline Sales of Merck's former best-selling drug, sunnyl, fell 53% year-on-year in the quarter to $2.80 after losing us patent protection last year Excluding the impact of exchange rate changes, the sales of animal health and consumer sales of Merck in the third quarter were flat year on year In addition to shunerning's loss of patent protection, expenses related to the restructuring of Merck's R & D business also put pressure on its performance Merck recently announced a global restructuring plan to enhance its focus on business and R & D, including cutting its current 81000 employees by about 20% over the next two years In addition, Merck said it would close its New Jersey office and cancel some late stage drug development projects, hoping to save about $2.5 billion by 2015 Rogge Perlmutter, a former head of research and development at Amgen, a biotech company, who has moved to Merck as head of research and development, is pushing ahead with the reform Merck expects earnings per share to be $1.61 to $1.79 in fy2013; excluding restructuring and M & A expenses and other one-time items, earnings per share are expected to be $3.48 to $3.52 in fy2013, up from $3.45 to $3.55 previously At the same time, Merck reiterated its forecast for sales in fy2013, i.e a decrease of 5% to 6% compared with fy2012, in which the exchange rate change will bring about a negative impact of about 2.5 percentage points Merck shares closed at $46.54 on Friday Merck's shares have risen 14% so far this year