FRANKFURT, May 15 (Reuters) - Merck KGaA on

Wednesday reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings,

helped by strong demand for its pharmaceuticals and amid

currency-adjusted sales growth in semiconductor materials.

The German diversified group reported 8.4% lower

first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and

amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-offs, at 1.45 billion

euros ($1.57 billion).

That beat the average analyst estimate of 1.36 billion euros

posted on the company's website, helped by revenue from cancer

drug Bavencio, which now fully accrues to Merck after former

partner Pfizer ( PFE ) left their alliance last year.

The electronics business also outperformed market

expectations on strong demand for chemicals used to make data

processing chips, but the company warned demand in other markets

remained soft.

The German group said 2024 adjusted EBITDA would be in a

range of 5.7 billion to 6.3 billion euros, compared with 5.9

billion euros last year.

It said that was in line with a previous forecast for

"slight-to-moderate" currency-adjusted growth.

($1 = 0.9243 euros)