Pharmaceuticals performance lifts Bayer in Q1
The performance of the German Bayer Group's businesses in the first quarter of 2009 varied widely, with CropScience and Pharmaceuticals continuing to grow while MaterialScience faced a slump.
The performance of the German Bayer Group's businesses in the first quarter of 2009 varied widely, with CropScience and Pharmaceuticals continuing to grow while MaterialScience faced a slump.
Management board chairman Werner Wenning said a 5% increase for the full year to around Euro 32bn could still be achieved if there was a recovery in MaterialScience.
Wenning said the downturn "seems to be bottoming out" and the first signs of a modest recovery in demand are appearing.
Group sales for Q1 were â"šÂ¬7.9bn, down 7.5% compared with a record â"šÂ¬8.5bn reported for the same quarter last year. EBITDA before special items fell by 22.4% to â"šÂ¬1.7bn.
The HealthCare division benefited from the "pleasing" performance of the pharmaceuticals business where first-quarter sales rose from â"šÂ¬2.5bn to â"šÂ¬2.6bn. All four divisions - General Medicine, Specialty Medicine, Women's Healthcare and Diagnostic Imaging - contributed to this increase. EBITDA before special items rose by 8.8% to â"šÂ¬827m.
The cancer drug Nexavar saw the strongest growth, with sales up 28.6% on a currency-adjusted basis. Sales of the multiple sclerosis treatment Betaferon/Betaseron also developed well, as did those of the YAZ family of oral contraceptives. Business with the hemophilia drug Kogenate also improved. However, sales of the antiinfective Avalox/Avelox fell due to a weak flu season in the US.
The Bayer Group's operating result was reduced in the first quarter by special charges of â"šÂ¬44m. Of this, the integration of Schering accounted for â"šÂ¬18m and restructuring programmes at CropScience and MaterialScience for â"šÂ¬8m and â"šÂ¬18m, respectively.
The company now expects to make capital expenditures of â"šÂ¬1.4bn in 2009, while r&d expenses are planned to rise to roughly â"šÂ¬2.9bn.
