Strong year for Bayer CropScience

The following is a part of Friday's Bayer presentations pertaining to Bayer CropScience. Read the full press release.

“We were particularly successful in our agriculture business – our second life-science area – in 2012,” Dekkers said. CropScience increased sales by 15.5 percent (Fx &portfolio adj. 12.4 percent) to EUR 8,383 million (2011: EUR 7,255 million) in an attractive market environment. This growth was due largely to good business with new products in Crop Protection and rapidly expanding sales at Seeds. Environmental Science also developed favorably. The realignment of marketing and distribution activities and streamlining of the product range contributed to the gratifying performance. “These successes are impressive, as 2011 was already a very good year for CropScience,” Dekkers emphasized.

All regions contributed to the growth in sales at Crop Protection. Moreover, all business units achieved double-digit growth rates, headed by seed treatments (SeedGrowth) at 17.2 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.). Insecticides improved by 14.8 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.), while fungicides advanced by 13.2 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.) and herbicides by 10.1 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.).

Thanks to growth in all regions, but particularly in North America, sales of the Seeds business advanced by 14.1 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.). That business achieved double-digit sales growth rates in each of the core crops oilseed rape/canola, rice and cotton. By contrast, sales of vegetable seeds declined slightly (Fx &portfolio adj.). Sales of the Environmental Science business unit moved forward by 5.3 percent (Fx &portfolio adj.).

EBITDA before special items of CropScience improved by 21.4 percent to EUR 2,008 million (2011: EUR 1,654 million). This growth resulted above all from significantly higher volumes and positive currency effects.

Source: Bayer CropScience