Merck KGaA achieved positive results for 2008

Merck KGaA has achieved “positive results in a difficult year”, it has been asserted.

The comment, from the firm’s chairman of the executive board Dr Karl-Ludwig Kley, came after the company released its full-year and fourth-quarter figures for 2008 – revealing record total revenue of 7.6 billion euros (6.7 billion pounds).

It also revealed its overall operating results had grown by 16 per cent, taking them up to 1,131 million.

Dr Kley commented: “In spite of the recession ? Merck is please to report that we were able to meet the Group guidance for 2008 that we announced a year ago.”

He added the results were evidence of the company’s business model that distributes risk across the two major business sectors of pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

During 2008, Merck KGaA made no key divestments or acquisitions.

The business was established in 1891 and is a research-drive pharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures vaccines and medicines.

It uses tools including genomics, bioinformatics, combinational chemistry and recombinant DNA techniques for its investigations.