Third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) declined 8.4% to € 333 million, or 13.2% of total revenues, compared to € 363 million, or 14.9% of total revenues, in the year-ago quarter. The third-quarter underlying core operating result, which excludes Merck Serono- and Merck Millipore-related amortization of intangible assets and other one-time charges, was € 552 million, or 21.8% of revenues, compared to € 624 million, or 25.6% of revenues, in the year-ago quarter. The primary reason for the decline in profitability was a weakening of the Performance Materials division, which faced a slowdown in its respective end-user industries, and the increase in R&D costs.
Merck’s financial result improved by 5.0% to €
The Merck Group’s third-quarter profit before tax was down 9.2% to € 263 million compared to € 289 million in the year-ago quarter.
The underlying tax ratio was 12.5% for the third quarter of 2011 compared to 25.8% in the year-ago quarter. This favorable reduction was the result of one-time deferred tax income. Due to a 56% reduction in taxes to just € 33 million, profit after tax in the third quarter of 2011 increased 7.2% to € 230 million from € 215 million in the third quarter of 2010.
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