 |
 |
||||||
[August 2006]
Strong Second Quarter for Bayer
The positive business trend at Bayer AG (Leverkusen, Germany) continued in the second quarter of 2006, with substantial increases in both sales and earnings. Sales from continuing operations advanced by 5.8% to 7.072 billion euro (Q2 2005: 6.686 billion euro), due to higher sales of the HealthCare and MaterialScience subgroups. Sales of CropScience were slightly below the prior-year quarter.Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) before special items rose by 11.2% to 1.342 billion euro (1.207 billion euro). "Bayer remains on a successful path both strategically and operationally, as our gratifying second-quarter performance shows," commented Management Board Chairman Werner Wenning. "Particularly in light of the long-term optimization of our portfolio, we remain optimistic about the Bayer Group’s future development." For the Bayer CropScience subgroup, Wenning announced the launch of a new restructuring programme designed to achieve annual savings of approximately 300 million euro.
Bayer also had a very successful second quarter in strategic terms: the acquisition of Schering AG was the largest transaction in Bayer’s history and the agreed divestiture of the Diagnostics Division was, said the company, fully in line with its strategy of sharpening the focus of its HealthCare business and concentrating on human and animal medicines and consumer health products.
In its sectoral round-up, Bayer said that the positive business trend in the Bayer MaterialScience subgroup continued in the second quarter of 2006, with sales increasing by 5.4% to 2.883 billion euro. Business growth was mainly volume-driven, with the Polyurethanes and the Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants business units the main contributors. Underlying EBITDA of the Bayer MaterialScience subgroup came in at 489 million euro, up 3.2% from the prior-year period. A mainly price-related earnings decline in the Materials segment was more than offset by a gratifying increase in the Systems segment.
Bayer currently views the market environment for its MaterialScience business as positive despite a significant rise in raw material costs. Business so far in 2006 and the prospects for the second half of the year are ahead of expectations. Against this background, BMS now plans to achieve underlying EBIT and EBITDA for the full year on a par with the outstanding 2005 level.
ENDS