On April 23, 2008, Merck, a pharmaceutical and chemical company based in Germany, announced net profits of €239.1 million in Q1′08 after posting a loss of €8.3 million (US$13.2 million) a year earlier. The Q1′07 loss was mostly due to high interest payments on debt and Serono acquisition-related write-downs. Growth was driven by all divisions [...]

According to Walter Zywottek, head of Merck’s chemicals business, Merck’s Japanese competitors have not made substantial enough investments to have a major impact on the company’s liquid crystal business. Zywottek also forecasted that LCs prices will stabilize as flat panel display TVs has largely shifted toward LCD technology instead of plasma.

Merck’s competitor in Japan is [...]