By Cecilia Butini

Fresenius SE said Thursday that second-quarter net profit declined and issued new, lower guidance for the full year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The German health-care company said after-tax income before special items came in at 410 million euros ($483.5 million) for the second quarter, down from EUR471 million for the same period a year earlier. Sales grew to EUR8.9 billion from EUR8.7 billion.

Fresenius guided for sales growth of 3% to 6% at constant currencies and for net income growth of between minus 4% to positive 1% constant currencies. The company had previously guided for sales growth of 4% to 7% and for net income growth of 1% to 5%, both at constant currencies. The new guidance accounts for the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which the company hadn't considered in its previous guidance.

Fresenius Medical Care, the company's dialysis division, posted a EUR351 million net profit, up from EUR254 million. Sales rose to EUR4.56 billion for the quarter from EUR4.34 billion a year earlier, the company said.

Fresenius Medical Care expects revenue and net income to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit rate this year, it said. 



  Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com