Bayer sales rise 13% in 1st-qtr 2011, but pharma sales to stay flat this year

German pharma, crop sciences and chemicals group Bayer (BAY: DE) posted a solid set of first-quarter 2011 results, with sales up 13.2% to 9.42 billion euros ($13.71 billion) - beating analysts’ consensus estimates of 9.08 billion euros - operating result (EBIT) rising 4.0% to 1.15 million euros and EBITDA before special items advances 22.3% to 2.23 billion euros. Special items of 442 million euros diminished earnings, the company said, but net income was up 8.4% to 684 million euros.

Bayer has raised its forecast for the full year, with improvement expected at CropScience. In the Healthcare sector it plans to increase sales by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage this year after adjusting for currency and portfolio effects and to achieve a small improvement in EBITDA before special items. However, in the Pharmaceuticals segment, Bayer does not yet expect sales to resume growing with the market in 2011. The company raised its full-year 2011 guidance with sales expected to generate about 36 billion to 37 billion euros; EBITDA before special items is expected to be more than 7.5 billion euros and core earnings are expected to improve by 15% from the previous 10%.

The Bayer Group got off to a successful start to 2011, said chief executive Marijn Dekkers, noting: “All three subgroups contributed to the strong start to the year with sales and earnings increases.” He was especially pleased at how well the season had begun at CropScience. MaterialScience achieved significant growth compared with the prior-year quarter, which was still hampered by the financial and economic crisis, and HealthCare also posted a solid performance. Dr Dekkers expressed his optimism for the year as a whole: “We are raising our Group sales and earnings forecast for this year, mainly because of the improvement we expect at CropScience.”