German pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer saw profits fall again in 2024 and faces another difficult year ahead, with financial results likely to remain in the red, the company's top executive warned on Wednesday.
However, Bayer chief executive Bill Anderson said that he hopes to be able to lead the company out of its problems.
Beginning in 2026, Bayer's performance should start to improve again thanks to ongoing restructuring efforts, Anderson said.
In addition, a multi-year program has been initiated to turn around the agricultural business, which has been hammered by lawsuits in the United States over the agricultural pesticides glyphosate and PCB.
Anderson said he continues to hope that the risks will be contained from those lawsuits, many of which focus on the Roundup brand weed killer sold by agrichemical giant Monsanto, which was bought by Bayer in 2018.
Across Bayer's businesses, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by 13.5% to €10.1 billion ($10.8 billion) in 2024, partly due to price declines in the crop protection business and currency effects.
At the bottom line, Bayer was once again in the red, losing €2.55 billion due to further impairments in the agricultural business.
A year earlier, Bayer had posted a loss of €2.94 billion.
Sales in 2024 fell by 2.2% to €46.6 billion.
For 2025, Bayer is targeting sales of €45 billion to €47 billion, adjusted for exchange rate effects. The company expects adjusted EBITDA, including currency effects, to decline to between €9.3 billion and €9.8 billion.
Due to the high level of company debt, Bayer announced at the beginning of 2024 that it would only pay the minimum dividend for the next three years.
For 2024, this again means €0.11 per share.
Continued cost reductions through the restructuring of management should provide relief, with an additional €800 million in savings expected in 2025. Bayer cut spending by €500 million last year.
In the model introduced by Anderson, Bayer has cut the number of managers in the company and given employees in areas such as research, production and sales more personal responsibility and freedom of action.
The number of employees fell in 2024, closing the year at roughly 92,800 people, compared to nearly 100,000 a year earlier.
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