After the completion of company purchase of rival Schering-Plough Corp., the second largest U. S. drug maker Merck & Co. claimed its fourth-quarter profit mounted for revenue to beat analyst estimates by 1 cent.

According to a statement by Merck, the net income increased to $6.49 billion, or $2.35 a share, from $1.64 billion, or 78 cents, previous year. Merck revealed a sales jump to $10.09 billion, and accepted that it was ignited by addition of Schering-Plough's products and higher sales for Merck vaccines and top-selling drugs. New revenue sources have been found by Merck as it lost 14% of sales to generic rivals in the next five years.

Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan in a research report before the release of earnings said, "Merck's expanded base business, more diverse product portfolio and agile, increasingly lean cost structure, will support stable earnings growth over the next several years. The Merck, Schering-Plough combined late stage pipeline has the potential to extend this record into the next decade".

In New York Stock Exchange trading after 28% of gain over the past 12 months, Merck elevated 4 cents, to $36.92 on Feb. 12. The company is also posting earnings of $2.35. per share.