Bayer’s earnings declined in the first quarter of 2024 as the company reported lower sales in crop protection, including a significant decline in the value of glyphosate-based product sales.
Glyphosate-based herbicide sales were down 6% as prices fell to align with generics. Volume, however, rose 49% to partially offset the drop in sales. Overall, the company reported a decline from $4.87 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in last year’s first quarter to $4.76 billion this year – a drop of 1.3%.
Bayer said the results were in line with its projections, but lowered those expectations for the rest of the fiscal year.
Overall, the Crop Science Division saw sales drop 3%, “outperform[ing] its peers in a difficult market,” Bayer said. The dip in sales to about $8.5 billion was “mainly due to lower volumes for non-glyphosate-based herbicides and the Fungicides business in Europe/Middle East/Africa,” Bayer said.
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“The strategic business entities Herbicides and Fungicides saw sales fall by 13.3% and 8.5%, respectively,” Bayer said. “Sales at Soybean Seed & Traits were level with the prior-year period [and] business at Corn Seed & Traits was up by 2%."
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at Crop Science declined 12.8% to $3.08 billion in the quarter.
The company is in the midst of implementing a new dynamic shared ownership operating model that Reuters reported has resulted in the departure of 1,500 employees in the approximately 100,000-person company.
“We’re consolidating roles, designing teams for more impact, and taking out layers,” CEO Bill Anderson said. “The most important measure of our impact will be much greater than a job number or a cost savings target. It will be in our ability to innovate, grow our businesses, and improve life for our customers.”
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