German pharma company Bayer posts net loss of 2.74 bln euros in Q3

Bayer recorded a net loss of around 2.74 billion euros (3.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of the fiscal year, after a net income of 1.04 billion euros in Q3 last year, the German pharmaceutical and chemical company announced on Tuesday.

In the second quarter of 2020, Bayer even posted a net loss of around 9.5 billion euros due to provisions for the glyphosate settlement in the United States. According to Bayer, the company assumed legal costs of up to 10.9 billion U.S. dollars for the settlement and possible future cases.

Sales of Bayer in the third quarter fell by 13.5 percent year-on-year to 8.5 billion euros. Bayer's agricultural business, Crop Science, even saw sales fall 23.3 percent to 3.03 billion euros, according to the company.

"The impact of the pandemic is placing additional strain on our Crop Science Division," said chief financial officer (CFO) of Bayer, Wolfgang Nickl, in a statement.

Global corn seed and trait business plummeted by currency- and portfolio-adjusted 39.9 percent, according to the German company. Sales fell considerably in the United States in particular due to "higher product returns and lower license revenues arising from lower than anticipated planted acreages for corn this year."

At the same time, Bayer's important pharmaceuticals business only recorded sales declining by 6.1 percent year-on-year to 4.23 billion euros in Q3, according to Bayer.

In China, the division was able to "partly offset" the negative effects of the implementation of new tender processes for the products Glucobay, for diabetes treatment, and Avelox, an antibiotic, through among other things strong volume growth of Glucobay.

Bayer's sales of the oral anticoagulant Xarelto grew by currency- and portfolio-adjusted 13.8 percent due to particularly higher sales volumes in China, Germany and Russia. The company also achieved higher sales of the eye drug Eylea, driven by the marketing of the Eylea ready-to-use syringe as well as strong demand in China.

For the full fiscal year 2020, Bayer confirmed its revised currency-adjusted outlook and is expecting sales between 43 and 44 billion euros.