Forecast for the Merck Millipore division Audited

The Merck Millipore division is expected to remain on a healthy growth path throughout 2014. All business units have been forecast to contribute to a slight increase in sales.

The pharmaceutical market is expected to recover and to grow at middle single-digit rates compared to 2013 according to IMS Health, strongly driven by sales of biotech products. After two years of decline, R&D spending by the pharmaceutical industry is expected to resume according to Evaluate Pharma. The Process Solutions business unit, which supplies consumables and services to major pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing companies, is expected to deliver solid organic sales growth fueled by these favorable market dynamics.

Merck expects solid performance in the Lab Solutions business unit in 2014 as the global laboratory products market is expected to grow by +1.5% to +2.0% compared to last year (Frost & Sullivan market research).

The Bioscience business unit, whose main customer groups are academic and government laboratories and institutions as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological research organizations, is likely to continue to face a challenging economic environment in 2014. Sluggish development is forecast in the major markets of Europe and North America due to budget sequestration measures, while Emerging Markets are expected to drive growth.

Marketing and selling expenses and R&D expenses are planned to develop in line with sales, leading to a further slight improvement of divisional EBITDA pre one-time items. Investments in property, plant and equipment will be at higher levels in 2014 as the division is in the process of enhancing its production and supply network. As a result business free cash flow is projected to remain stable at the level of 2013.