Germany's Merck raises 2026 guidance for third time

FRANKFURT, Nov 12 (Reuters) - German drugmaker Merck KGaA on Thursday raised its 2026 core profit guidance for the third time this year, helped by better underlying performance, foreign exchange effects and the acquisition of US firm Bio-Techne.

The diversified, family-controlled group said it expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in a range of €6.2 billion to €6.4 billion, up from previous guidance of €5.9 billion to €6.3 billion.

Here are more details:

• Merck now expects full-year revenue of between €21.5 billion and €21.9 billion (previously: €21-21.8 billion).

• In Q3, net revenue grew by 5.8% on the year to €5.6 billion while EBITDA was up 0.8% to €1.7 billion.

• "Our third-quarter performance underscores the strength of our integrated business model with our strong position in attractive growth markets, especially biomanufacturing, discovery and development across the life sciences value chain, semiconductor manufacturing that supports AI and advanced nodes, as well as targeted specialty and rare diseases," CEO Kai Beckmann said.

• As a supplier to the semiconductor industry, Merck manufactures specialty materials and chemical solutions used to produce advanced microchips that underpin AI applications and data centres.

• In June, Merck boosted its Life Science unit, which makes drug research and manufacturing tools, by striking an $11.3 billion deal to buy Bio-Techne, its biggest transaction in more than a decade.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Thomas SeythalEditing by Linda Pasquini)