During the second quarter of 2014, the Merck share price rose by almost 4%. It slightly outperformed the DAX® by approximately 1 percentage point. The picture was mixed in comparison with the relevant industry indices: the share underperformed the relevant index for the pharmaceutical industry by slightly more than 1 percentage point but developed roughly in line with the relevant index for the chemical industry.
In absolute terms, the Merck share price reached its Q2 2014 peak on June 12, 2014 of € 64.40 – retrospectively adjusted for the 1:2 share split described below – and ended the quarter slightly lower at € 63.39. The average daily trading volume in the second quarter of 2014 was 515,000 shares, about 1% lower than in the year-earlier quarter.
On June 30, 2014, the 1:2 share split became effective. On May 9, 2014, the Annual General Meeting resolved to re-divide the share capital of Merck KGaA so that one existing no-par-value share with a pro rata amount of the share capital of € 2.60 would be divided into two no-par-value shares with a pro rata amount of the share capital of € 1.30 each (share split). This had no influence on the share price performance in Q2 2014.
In the first half of 2014, the Merck share price declined by approximately 3%. Thus, the share underperformed all relevant indices, largely due to its pronounced weakness in Q1 2014. The underperformance relative to the DAX® in the first half of 2014 was almost 6 percentage points, and approximately 5 percentage points relative to the relevant chemicals index, and almost 12 percentage points relative to the pharmaceutical index.
Share price development from April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014
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