Sigma-Aldrich reports organic sales growth in second quarter of 2015

Sigma-Aldrich has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2015, during which it saw strong organic sales growth.

The company's reported sales total for the three-month period came to $697 million (446.81 million pounds). This was lower than the $701 million total from Q2 2014, due to a nine percent reduction caused by changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

In organic terms, sales rose by eight percent year on year, with recent acquisitions increasing sales by an additional one percent. By business unit, organic sales growth was six percent in research, eight percent in applied and 11 percent in SAFC Commercial.

All business units and geographies contributed to the improvements, with sales up by seven percent to  $1.37 billion for the first six months of the year in organic terms.

This comes as the organisation prepares to complete its planned merger with Merck KGaA, which agreed to purchase Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion last September.

Rakesh Sachdev, president and chief executive officer of Sigma-Aldrich, said: "We are excited about the opportunity to join forces with Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany. We continue to work toward closing the transaction mid-year."