Bayer On Track For Record Growth In 1997

Bayer, the German chemicals and pharmaceutical group, has said that itexpects a record year for 1997 with sales topping 53 billion Deutschmarks ($31.1 billion), following the release of figures for the nine-month period ended September 1997.

Favorable exchange rates led to a 13% increase in group sales to 41.34 billion marks and an 11% rise in operating results to 4.2 billion marks compared to the year-earlier period, despite the negative impact of low selling prices. Manfred Schneider, Bayer's chairman, told journalists in Leverkusen that business had been "marked by a rate of growth we have not seen since the early eighties."

Pharmaceutical Results Bayer's health care business reported 15% sales growth, while specifically in the pharmaceutical sector, revenues of the antibiotic Cipro (ciprofloxacin) rose 16% to 1.6 billion marks. Sales of the group's antihypertensive Adalat (nifedipine) grew 7% to 1.3 billion marks, with a 30% increase for the single-dose Oros formulation. The strongest growth was registered for the blood clotting agent Kogenate (recombinant Factor VIII), with sales up 58% to 500 million marks, while turnover of the antidiabetic Glucobay (acarbose) rose 24% to 330 million marks.