Merck posts quarterly loss vs. year-ago profit

(Reuters) - Merck & Co reported a quarterly loss compared with a year-ago profit on Friday, hurt by a charge related to the formation of a collaboration with AstraZeneca Plc.

Net loss attributable to Merck was $56 million, or 2 cents per share, for the third quarter, compared with a year-ago profit of $2.18 billion, or 78 cents per share.

Sales fell to $10.33 billion from $10.54 billion.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)