Biotest reports all-time record profits

Biotest has announced that its profits after tax reached an all-time high in 2011.

The group posted earnings of 48.1 million euros (40.3 million pounds) for the period, up 21.8 per cent on the previous year.

According to Biotest's report, the sale of its Microbiology Monitoring business division to Merck KGaA in August last year accounted for 26.4 million euros of this after-tax figure.

The terms of the deal, which was agreed in March 2011, saw Merck acquire two production sites in Germany and four subsidiaries.

Biotest has projected sales growth of between three and five percent for 2012.

In a statement, the company said this expectation "assumes that the underlying conditions for our business with countries such as Greece, Russia and certain Middle Eastern nations will not deteriorate for financial or political reasons".

It also predicted "only a slight increase" in earnings before interest and tax for the 2012 financial year.