BAYRY Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (PK)

   By Cecilia Butini 
 

Shares in German pharmaceutical-and-agricultural giant Bayer fell in opening trade on Thursday after the company posted worse-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, driven by reduced market prices for the herbicide glyphosate as well as inflation.

At 0751 GMT, shares traded 5.7% lower at EUR54.96.

Bayer's first-quarter net profit came in at 2.18 billion euros ($2.39 billion), down from EUR3.29 billion the previous year and short of analysts' forecasts of EUR2.21 billion. Sales also declined compared with the year prior and came in at EUR14.39 billion from EUR14.64 billion, missing a consensus forecast that saw them at EUR14.59 billion.

The pharmaceuticals division was hit by pandemic-related developments in China, and best-selling blood thinner Xarelto also drove down sales in the division as its sales declined by 13%.

Analysts at Bernstein said in a note that the company's pharma business disappointed especially on margins, as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the division missed expectations by 14%.

The agricultural business, named Crop Science, did well despite a normalization in the price of the herbicide glyphosate, which caused a EUR700 million hit to earnings, the analysts said. The division's guidance nevertheless was cut to 1.5% organic sales growth from 3%, and margins are now expected to sit at the lower end of the expected range due to the faster glyphosate price normalization, Bernstein noted.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2023 04:22 ET (08:22 GMT)

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