Merck raises boosts full-year sales target

German pharmaceutical group Merck raised its yearly forecast on Thursday following a strong performance from its healthcare unit in the second quarter.

Merck said it now expects sales of between €14.9bn and €15.1bn in 2016 compared with its previous guidance for €14.8bn to €15bn.

For the three months ending in June the company said that fluctuating foreign currency markets alongside the rights return of Kuvan to BioMarin Pharmaceutical, which it had acquired in 2005, led to a revenue decline of 2%.

Net profit for the quarter fell to €312m from €343m, prompted by an increase in the cost of its share-based compensation program.

"We again achieved everything we aimed for in the second quarter," said Merck CEO Stefan Oschmann. "Strong demand for our products and dynamic market developments gave our healthcare and life science businesses additional tailwinds," adding that "since particularly in healthcare our performance in the second quarter was so good, we have decided to lift our forecast for the full year."

The recent $17bn acquisition of US-based Sigma-Aldrich allowed the company to establish more market present stateside, while it also staved off fears of a backlash following Britain's decision to leave the European Union last month.