Bayer expects lower operating profit in 2023 due to cost inflation

By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Agricultural and pharmaceutical company Bayer said its operating profit was expected to fall in 2023, hit by higher costs and a reversal of last year’s price rise for its herbicides. glyphosate base.

In a statement on Tuesday, Bayer said gross operating profit (EBITDA), adjusted for extraordinary items, is expected to be between 12.5 billion euros and 13 billion euros this year, excluding the effect of currency fluctuations. .

This would mean a drop from the 13.5 billion recorded in 2022, 20.9% more than a year earlier and slightly above what analysts expected on average, according to the consensus published on the website. of the company.

In his latest presentation of the company’s quarterly results, CEO Werner Baumann said the company is active in the right business areas.

“Health and nutrition are basic human needs. Our vision of ‘health for all, hunger for none’ is and will continue to be of vital importance, especially in times like these,” said he declared.

Bayer announced this month that it would soon replace its chief executive, hiring the former head of Roche’s pharmaceuticals business, Bill Anderson, amid calls from some investors for Bayer to simplify its diversified structure and split into separate groups.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Paul Carrel, Editing in Spanish by José Muñoz in the Gdańsk newsroom)