By Cecilia Butini

Bayer on Thursday posted a fall first-quarter earnings, which the company said were weighed by an impairment loss due to reduced market price expectations on the herbicide glyphosate, and inflation.

The German pharmaceutical and agricultural company posted net profit of 2.18 billion euros ($2.39 billion), down from EUR3.29 billion the previous year and short of analysts' forecasts of EUR2.21 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before special items declined to EUR4.47 billion from EUR5.25 billion the year prior while earnings before interest and taxes fell to EUR2.97 billion from EUR4.21 billion in the same quarter of 2022, Bayer said.

Sales declined to EUR14.39 billion from EUR14.64 billion, missing a consensus forecast that saw them at EUR14.59 billion.

The company said its agricultural business, Crop Science, saw herbicide sales declining by more than 24% due to lower volumes and prices for glyphosate-based products, though other parts of the business grew.

The Pharmaceuticals division also had a decline in prescription-drug sales, due to tender procedures and a Covid-19 wave in China, Bayer said.

The company nonetheless backed its 2023 guidance, saying that it expects to reach the lower end of the target range. Chief Executive Werner Baumann said, however, that he sees potential risks coming from reduced market price expectations for glyphosate-based products in the remainder of the year.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2023 02:15 ET (06:15 GMT)

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