Germany's Merck KGaA raised its full-year guidance for the second quarter in a row, citing robust performance and easing foreign-exchange headwinds.

The German life-sciences and chemicals group said Thursday it now expects net sales for the full year to range from €21 billion to €21.8 billion ($24.26 billion-$25.19 billion), with organic growth of 1% to 3%. It had previously forecast sales to be flat or to grow up to 3% organically, resulting in revenue of 20.4 billion to 21.4 billion euros.

The company anticipates earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization excluding one-time items to be between 5.9 billion and 6.3 billion euros, with growth of up to 3%. This compares with its previous guidance of 5.7 billion to 6.1 billion euros, with an organic performance ranging from a 2% fall to a 2% rise.

Merck KGaA said this reflected abating foreign-exchange headwinds and expectations of stronger demand in life-science and electronics markets, together with resilience in healthcare operations.