Frankfurt (AFP) – German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer on Wednesday said it had slightly increased its forecast for the whole year after boosting sales and profits in the third quarter.
Results released by the firm showed it had increased profits by 18.8 percent to 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) between July and September compared with the same period the previous year, on sales of 11.3 billion euros.
Analysts surveyed by Factset had predicted profits of 1.08 billion euros.
Based on its performance, Bayer said it would target a “high single-digit percentage increase in adjusted profits per share” for the whole year rather than the “mid-to-high” increase it had in its sights previously.
Growth was driven by the Leverkusen-based firm’s prescription drugs division, which boosted its underlying profit 16.5 percent to 1.1 billion euros on stronger sales.
Meanwhile, the agrochemicals unit was able to increase profits by almost 8.0 percent on slightly weaker sales than in the third quarter of 2015.
Bayer’s agriculture activities are in the spotlight as it prepares for a 58.8-billion-euro takeover of US maker of genetically modified seeds and pesticides Monsanto, the biggest ever acquisition by a German company.
In a statement, chief executive Werner Baumann blamed a “difficult market environment” for the crop science unit’s performance, while vowing that the Monsanto takeover would “create a leading firm in the agricultural sector”.
The acquisition has yet to be approved by US and European competition authorities.
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