BERLIN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- German medical company Fresenius confirmed its business guidance for 2019 following a "solid" third quarter (Q3), the company announced on Tuesday.

Sales of Fresenius increased by 8 percent to a total of around 8.9 billion euros (9.9 billion U.S. dollars) in Q3 while its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew by 2 percent to about 1.13 billion euros.

"We posted strong organic growth across all four business segments," said Stephan Sturm, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fresenius, adding that the company's investments would be "proceeding as planned" but will weigh on its earnings this year.

During the first three quarters of 2019, Fresenius has spent around 1.6 billion euros on property plant and equipment. Investments went primarily into the modernization and expansion of dialysis clinics, production facilities as well as hospitals and day clinics, the company said. .

In addition, Fresenius spent about 2.3 billion euros on acquisitions between January and September, mainly for the acquisition of U.S. home dialysis product provider NxStage by its subsidiary Fresenius Medical Care (FMC).

FMC, a specialist for dialysis products, also published its third quarter results on Tuesday, with its turnover up 9 percent to 4.4 billion euros and EBIT up 13 percent to 595 million euros.

Following the completion of the acquisition of NxStage in February, FMC reported on Tuesday to have achieved a "record growth" in home dialysis in the North American market, treating more than 25,000 patients at home during the last seven months.

Fresenius and its subsidiary FMC are both listed on Germany's benchmark stock index DAX among the 30 largest German companies

Based on the group's "solid" results in the first three quarters and "good prospects" for the rest of the year, Fresenius is expecting its sales to increase by between 4 and 7 percent while net income are anticipated to remain unchanged compared to last year.

FMC is expecting adjusted sales in 2019 to increase by between 3 and 7 percent and net income to be in the range of between minus 2 and 2 percent.

Shares of FMC as well as Fresenius were the clear winners in the German DAX index on Tuesday morning local time, both increasing over 5.5 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Enditem

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