2013 was a a great year for Ken Frasier and his team. They were successful in enhancing Stockholder value by over 25 %. Stock price of 50. So bonus and pay increases this year will be bountiful to MRK executives in 2014. This was delivered by executing aggressive cost controls.
Next year they have to grow the company by launching new products not sure they have the team or the products to achieve this goal.
I hope whoever wrote this is not in finance or has a helluva sense of sarcasm. One look at the 2013 Forbes Pharma ranking not only puts Merck towards the bottom of enhancing shareholder value but it's competition has beat the day lights out of them in the stock appreciation metric.
Merck is in the BOTTOM of the sector for stock appreciation over the last year.
1. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Market capitalization: $87 billion
Stock appreciation: +61.4%
Grade: A+
2. Celgene Corporation
Market cap: $67 billion
Stock appreciation: +107%
Grade: A
3. Biogen Idec
Market Capitalization: $67 billion
Stock appreciation: +92%
Grade: A
4. Gilead Sciences
Market capitalization: $113 billion
Stock appreciation: +100%
Grade: A-
5. AbbVie
Market capitalization: $86 billion
Stock appreciation: +59%
Grade: A-
6. Roche
Market capitalization: $235 billion
Stock appreciation: +32%
Grade: B+
7. Johnson & Johnson
Market capitalization: $261 billion
Stock appreciation: +32%
Grade: B+
8. GlaxoSmithKline
Market capitalization: $126 billion
Stock appreciation: 18.1+
Grade: B+
9. Amgen
Market capitalization: $85 billion
Stock appreciation: +30.8%
Grade: B
10. Pfizer Inc.
Market capitalization: $199 billion
Stock appreciation: +23%
Grade: B
11. Novartis
Market cap: $189 billion
Stock apprecition: +22.5%
Grade: B
12. Merck & Co.
Market capitalization: $143 billion
Stock appreciation: +19.4%
Grade: B-
13. Novo Nordisk
Market capitalization: $75 billion
Stock appreciation: +7.8%
Grade: B-
14. Sanofi
Market capitalization: $135 billion
Stock performance: +7.3%
Grade: B-
15. AstraZeneca
Market capitalization: $73 billion
Stock appreciation: +24.5%
Grade: C+
16. Eli Lilly and Company
Market capitalization: $57 billion
Stock appreciation: +2.4%
Grade: C