GERMAN chemicals giant Bayer said today it quadrupled its net profit in 2022, in part thanks to higher prices and strong demand for its glyphosate-based weedkillers.  

Net profit climbed to €4.15 billion euros (RM19.67 billion), up from 1 billion a year earlier, the Leverkusen-based group said in a statement.  

Sales rose by 8.7% to €50.7 billion, in line with analysts’ expectations.  

“2022 was a very successful year for Bayer despite the challenging environment,” said outgoing CEO Werner Baumann.  

The results were boosted by record sales in the company’s agricultural division, up more than 15% year-on-year to €25 billion.   

Bayer said this was “in particular thanks to higher prices” for herbicides across all regions, at a time when “supply for glyphosate-based products was tight”.  

Sales at the group’s pharmaceuticals arm were up just 1%. The unit faces pressure to launch new products to compensate for the expiration of patents on several blockbuster drugs in coming years. 

The best-selling blood thinner Xarelto has already lost patent protection in Brazil. Eye medicine Eylea is also nearing patent expiration.  

The group’s consumer health division, which sells over-the-counter drugs, saw sales grow by 8.4% on the back of strong demand for allergy and cold medicine.  

Baumann said Bayer’s group sales were forecast to grow by a modest “2 to 3%” in 2023 as the company braces for a drop in prices for herbicides and some pharma products.  

Baumann will be replaced from June 1 by former Roche executive Bill Anderson, following pressure from activist investors urging a change in direction at the German conglomerate.  

The new investors, including Bluebird Capital Partners, want to go further still by splitting the company into an agricultural and a pharmaceutical group.  

The proposal is controversial, however, with some experts saying a separate Bayer pharma company could become a takeover target. – AFP, February 28, 2023.