Liam Condon, board member and head of the agricultural division of the Dax group Bayer, is leaving at the end of the year. The company announced that he had asked the supervisory board to prematurely terminate his contract, which will run until the end of 2023. Such messages are often trimmed with niceties. So also this one. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Norbert Winkeljohann thanked Condon for “his achievements in the more than 30 years of his career at Bayer”. Condon will face a “new professional challenge,” said CEO Werner Baumann.
There was speculation about Condon’s departure. The manager was also responsible for the integration of Monsanto. Bayer has not been out of the negative headlines since the takeover in summer 2018. According to a report by Manager magazine From the beginning of October, the drop in prices in recent years is internally blamed on the Irishman, Condon. He will be succeeded by the Brazilian Rodrigo Santos, 48, on the board and as head of the agricultural business. He will carry out his duties from St. Louis / USA, said Baumann. Bayer makes 70 percent of its agricultural business in North and Latin America.
Operationally, the third quarter of 2021 was “strong”, said Baumann. Group sales rose by 15 percent to 9.8 billion euros. The Group’s operating earnings before interest and taxes were 530 million euros. In the third quarter of 2020, which ended operationally with a loss of around 9.4 billion euros, the group had to process special expenses of 10.2 billion euros. Value adjustments in the agricultural business alone had a year-on-year increase of 9.3 billion euros. In addition, there were provisions for “possible future legal disputes” in the glyphosate matter.
While the Pharma divisions, including prescription drugs, and Consumer Health, such as over-the-counter products such as the Bepanthen ointment, made an operating profit, the agricultural business closed the third quarter of 2021 with a loss of 200 million euros.
Bayer had already revised its expectations for the full year upwards in August. Now the group is raising the forecast again. Adjusted for currency and portfolio changes, he still expects sales of around 44 billion euros, which corresponds to an increase of seven percent instead of the six percent forecast in August. Bayer has raised its forecast for adjusted earnings per share by ten cents to around EUR 6.50 to EUR 6.70. In fiscal 2020, Bayer had sales of 41.4 billion euros and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations were 6.39 euros.
With a lot of fanfare, the Tübingen-based company Curevac and Bayer announced at the beginning of 2021 that they would be working together on the approval, production and sale of an mRNA-based vaccine. In mid-October, Curevac announced that it would no longer pursue approval of the first-generation vaccine. This means that “there is currently no basis for further development of vaccine production in Wuppertal. We have discontinued these activities,” said Baumann in a conference call. During the course of the year, hundreds of employees were at times busy supporting Curevac and building up vaccine production. They have been withdrawn from projects that are less critical in terms of time. The newly hired employees at the Wuppertal location, around 30, would now be “used for other purposes”. Bayer is still interested in mRNA technology and “is still in discussions with Curevac”. There is no contractual cooperation, said Baumann.
Bayer has “no strategic interest, and no real basis for establishing its own presence for vaccines,” explained Baumann. You just wanted to support. Due to its “massive success” with vaccines, Bayer is looking at mRNA technology for fields in which Bayer has strategic interests, for example in cell and gene therapy and in the areas of oncology, cardiology and ophthalmology. “We are looking for possible partnerships.”
In the fight against the corona pandemic, vaccination is the “method of choice”, said Baumann: “We encourage our people to get vaccinated. We cannot force a vaccination in many areas.” It is better to enforce wherever Bayer is active in the health sector, for example where sales people and technicians go to hospitals. “We have to make sure that we do not put medical staff, nursing staff and patients at risk.” In some areas where the vaccination quota is not very high, Bayer wants to increase it by “further addressing”, said Baumann, without giving details: “I am of the opinion that everyone should be vaccinated.”