MW Bayer's stock slumps after warning on crop-sciences unit
By Steve Goldstein
Bayer AG's stock slumped on Tuesday as the German giant issued a profit warning on agricultural demand.
Germany-listed shares of Bayer (XE:BAYN) dropped 11% as the company said the agricultural market was weaker than expected and that it's facing pricing pressure in crop protection.
Corn and soy sales were hit by challenging weather conditions and disease pressure in Latin America, Bayer said. Glyphosate-based herbicide sales tumbled 19%.
Bayer said its pharma business will deliver at the upper end of its 2024 guidance, helped by demand for the Nubeqa cancer and Kerendia kidney-disease drugs.
Its consumer-health business was helped by price increases and the cough-and-cold season in Europe, which offset a slow start to the U.S. cough-and-cold season in the U.S. and declining consumption in China.
Bayer's third-quarter EBITDA before special items fell 26% to EUR1.25 billion as sales fell 4% to EUR9.97 billion.
Bayer's losses including discontinued operations came in at EUR4.18 billion, narrower than the EUR4.57 billion loss last year. It took a EUR3.78 billion impairment on its crop science division.
It lowered its 2024 EBITDA before special items forecast to a range of EUR10.4 billion to EUR10.7 billion, from EUR10.7 billion to EUR11.3 billion, and Bayer said it is cautious about the agricultural market environment for 2025.
It's forecasting a "muted" outlook on both the top and bottom line with declining earnings "likely."
-Steve Goldstein
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 12, 2024 07:09 ET (12:09 GMT)
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