Frankfurt, Germany—German chemicals giant Bayer said Tuesday it quadrupled its net profit in 2022, in part thanks to higher prices and strong demand for its glyphosate-based weedkillers.
Net profit climbed to 4.15 billion euros ($4.3 billion), up from 1 billion a year earlier, the Leverkusen-based group said in a statement.
Sales rose by 8.7 percent to 50.7 billion euros, in line with analyst expectations.
“2022 was a very successful year for Bayer despite the challenging environment,” said outgoing CEO Werner Baumann.
The results were boosted by record sales in the company’s agricultural division, up more than 15 percent year-on-year to 25 billion euros.
Bayer said this was “in particular thanks to higher prices” for herbicides across all regions, at a time when “supply for glyphosate-based products was tight”.
Sales at the group’s pharmaceuticals arm were up just one percent. The unit faces pressure to launch new products to compensate for the expiration of patents on several blockbuster drugs in coming years.
The best-selling blood thinner Xarelto has already lost patent protection in Brazil. Eye medicine Eylea is also nearing patent expiration.
The group’s consumer health division, which sells over-the-counter drugs, saw sales grow by 8.4 percent on the back of strong demand for allergy and cold medicine.
Baumann said Bayer’s group sales were forecast to grow by a modest “two to three percent” in 2023 as the company braces for a drop in prices for herbicides and some pharma products.
Baumann will be replaced from June 1 by former Roche executive Bill Anderson, following pressure from activist investors urging a change in direction at the German conglomerate.
The new investors, including Bluebird Capital Partners, want to go further still by splitting the company into an agricultural and a pharmaceutical group.
The proposal is controversial however, with some experts saying a separate Bayer pharma company could become a takeover target.