So Peter Kim's presentation at Cowen & Co. has been completely overshadowed by the guidance update -- out of Whitehouse Station this morning.
It shouldn't surprise anyone who follows currencies, but Merck is clearly suffering the effects of a stronger dollar -- vis-a-vis the euro, and to a lesser extent, the Japanese yen. [Where is the hedging program, I wonder -- this could have been mitigated.]
Per MarketWatch.com, just now:
. . . .Merck & Co. said Tuesday it expects adjusted first-quarter profit of 95 cents to 98 cents a share, compared to the Wall Street estimate of $1.01 a share in a survey of analysts by FactSet Research. . . .
Just as I said, right here, just about three months ago. Currencies will be an important Merck headwind in 2012 -- unless the global economic balance shifts significantly in the second half of 2012.
4 comments:
Maybe the folks in treasury are turning apathetic as more of the merger plays out. You're right Condor, the currency movement should have been hedged for and before the merger when currencies were on a wild ride treasury was there to protect the company from things like this. A Town Hall from the treasurer was like a 1 hour crash course in world economies. Something is amiss for him to be so far off his game.
Puzzling, indeed!
Namaste
While I think this guy's take on Merck is a little under-informed -- as Merck has had more than 40% of its sales revenue flowing from non-US sources for a few years now -- he amplifies the points we were both making, here Anon. -- where is the currency hedging?
Cool -- on CNBC to boot!
Here's an interesting lawsuit that could adversely affect the way branded drugs are marketed:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/consumer-group-sues-8-drugmakers-164748201.html
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