Bayer shares fall as pharma giant’s results fail to cheer investors

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer released its third quarter 2024 earnings on Tuesday, reporting net sales of €10.0bn, down from  €10.3bn in the same period last year. 

The company’s share price dropped 12.12% on Tuesday afternoon, to €21.46. 

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the third quarter of the year came up to €1.3bn, down from  €1.7bn in Q3 2023. The EBITDA margin also fell from 16.3% in the third quarter of 2023 to 12.6% in Q3 2024. 

Core earnings per share (EPS) dropped from €0.38 in the third quarter of last year to  €0.24 in Q3 2024. 

Coming to individual departments, in the first nine months of the year, crop science sales fell 2%, whereas consumer health sales grew 3%. Pharmaceuticals sales also increased by some 4%. 

However, the company continued to struggle with crop protection operations facing pricing pressures, as well as a weak agricultural market in Latin America. Regulatory challenges were also a concern. 

Bayer highlighted that earnings were likely to fall next year due to these continuing headwinds, which may further spook investors. 

Bill Anderson, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bayer AG, said in the Q3 Media Update on the company’s website: “We see great progress in some areas. We’ve had a good run of positive readouts in Pharma, and great momentum on our launch assets. We see outstanding first results out of the new model.

“Even as we see great progress in some areas, others require more attention. Regulatory challenges and generic pricing pressures in our crop protection business are two examples. Regardless of whether these things are entirely in our control, we need to manage them with resources and decisions that are in our control.”

Given the lacklustre development of the agricultural market, Bayer also decreased its EBITDA before special items forecast for the full-year 2024, to between €10.4bn and €10.7bn. The previous range was between €10.7bn and €11.3bn. 

However, its currency-adjusted core earnings per share, currency-and portfolio-adjusted sales growth and free cash flow forecasts remained the same. 

Bayer ties up with deep tech women’s health start-up

Bayer also recently tied up with Impli, a deep-tech precision care start-up producing real-time hormone monitoring devices for women’s health. This is expected to go a long way in making fertility treatments like in vitro fertilisation safer, more successful and more accessible. 

Aquil Harjivan, head of front-end innovation for Consumer Health at Bayer, said in a press release on the company’s website: “New technologies are helping us answer one of the largest consumer unmet needs: better understanding what is happening in their own body and what it means for managing their health journey. 

 “We are excited to join cutting-edge innovators like Impli to explore the exciting frontiers of making health care more precise for every individual.”

Anna Luisa Schaffgotsch, the CEO of Impli, also said in the press release: “Reimagining women’s hormonal health is more than a challenge; it’s an opportunity to innovate and transform lives. 

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“The opportunity to break barriers together with a pioneering leader in the field such as Bayer is not just exciting—it’s a chance to create meaningful change and deliver better outcomes for everyone.”