Bayer's share price fell on November 12 after the company reported weak third-quarter results. Bayer warned that the current challenges could affect next year's results.
The German pharmaceutical giant announced its third-quarter 2024 earnings, reporting net sales of €10.0 billion, down from €10.3 billion in the same period last year, Euronews reported.
The company's share price fell 12.12 percent to 21.46 euros.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter of the year amounted to EUR1.3 billion, down from EUR1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The EBITDA margin also fell from 16.3% in the third quarter of 2023 to 12.6% in the third quarter of 2024.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) fell from €0.38 in the third quarter of last year to €0.24 in the same period of 2024.
As for the individual divisions, in the first 9 months of the year, sales in the crop business were down 2%, while sales in the consumer health business were up 3%. Pharmaceutical sales also increased by around 4%.
However, the company continued to struggle as its crop protection operations came under pricing pressure as well as a weak agricultural market in Latin America. Regulatory issues were also a problem.
Bayer highlighted that revenues are likely to decline next year due to these continued headwinds, which could further stress investors.
Bill Anderson, the company's chief executive, said on the company's website:
"We are seeing great progress in some areas. We have had a good run of positive results in pharmaceuticals and great momentum in our assets to market. We are seeing outstanding first results from the new model."
"Even if we see great progress in some areas, others require more attention. Two examples are the regulatory challenges and price pressures on generics in our crop protection business. Regardless of whether these things are entirely within our control, we need to manage them with resources and solutions that are within our control," Anderson explained.
Given the lacklustre development in the agricultural market, Bayer also cut its EBITDA before special items guidance for the full year 2024 to €10.4-10.7 billion. The previous range was between €10.7bn and €11.3bn.
However, forecasts for currency-adjusted basic earnings per share, currency-adjusted and portfolio sales growth and free cash flow remained unchanged. | BGNES
