Admin I Tuesday, August 06, 2024
BERLIN – Bayer, a German multinational pharmaceutical and agrochemical company, announced a reduction in its second-quarter net loss to €34 million ($37 million) from €1.89 billion a year earlier.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) before special items decreased by 16.5% to €2.1 billion. The decline in earnings was mainly due to an unfavorable product mix. In addition, the provisions for the group-wide short-term incentive program were lower in the prior-year period.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved to €525 million from minus €956 million last year. This improvement occurred after accounting for net special charges of €490 million.
In comparison, the net special charges were significantly higher in the second quarter of 2023, totaling €2.5 billion. The special charges primarily related to expenses for ongoing restructuring measures and affected all divisions and functional areas.
Sales for the second quarter rose 0.9% to €11.14 billion from €11.04 billion in the prior year. Group sales rose by 3.1% on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis.
The company also reaffirmed its outlook for the full fiscal year. It remains on track to deliver.
For the crop science division, the company expects currency- and portfolio-adjusted sales growth and the EBITDA margin before special items to come in at the lower end of the projected ranges—between minus 1% and plus 3%, and between 20% and 22%, respectively.
For the pharmaceuticals division, Bayer has upgraded its forecast for currency- and portfolio-adjusted sales growth to between 0 and 3% compared to the prior outlook between minus 4 and 0%.
