Self-care products help Bayer weather storm of pandemic last year

Bayer Group, a German life sciences company, announced its sales amounted to 41.4 billion euros ($50.34 billion) in 2020 at the company's financial news conference on Thursday in Leverkusen.

Adjusted for currency and portfolio effects, the sales were level year-on-year (plus 0.6 percent), according to the group.

Despite the pandemic, Bayer delivered robust operational performance in 2020.

In the agricultural business (Crop Science), Bayer increased sales by 1.3 percent to 18.84 billion euros. Their businesses in the Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions contributed to the increase. Sales growth was particularly strong at Fungicides and Environmental Science, with these businesses expanding in all regions, according to the company.

Pharmaceuticals grew earnings despite a decline in sales, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) before special items at pharmaceuticals advanced by 2.6 percent to 6.016 billion euros.

Sales of self-care products (Consumer Health) increased by 5.2 percent to 5.054 billion euros. The division's performance was ahead of the market, with all regions reporting growth, the company said.

The greater focus on health and prevention in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic generated substantial growth in demand. Especially in the nutritionals category, which saw sales advance by 22.6 percent. Sales were also up in the pain and cardio, dermatology and digestive health categories.

"Our operational strength in these turbulent times shows just how resilient our businesses are even during the pandemic," said Werner Baumann, chairman of the Board of Management.

"We also used the past year to lay the foundation for future growth. We continued to drive forward our company's transformation, advanced our product pipelines and invested in new technologies across all our business units," Baumann said.

In the pharmaceuticals business alone, Bayer entered into more than 25 acquisition or collaboration agreements in 2020. The largest acquisition was biotech company Asklepios BioPharmaceutical. "With AskBio and BlueRock Therapeutics, we are building a platform for cell and gene therapy and are further consolidating our emerging leadership in this highly promising and fast-growing field," explained Baumann.

In 2020, Bayer systematically invested in innovation in other areas, such as personalized nutrition. The company took a majority stake in Care/of, a US-based healthcare company, for its Consumer Health business, he said.

Bayer launched several local cooperation initiatives such as the strategic partnership with Hua Medicine and the cooperation with Chiesi for business development in China last year.

Bayer has strongly supported the strategy of Health China and strives to give full play to its advantages in medical health, and dedicate to providing helpful solutions to patients through innovative cooperation. The collaboration with Chiesi is one such kind of effort, the company said.

During the conference, Bayer also published the company's sustainability report.

The company made progress on sectors centered around the health of people and the planet, with a particular focus on climate protection, which are to help it meet its ambitious sustainability goals for 2030.

In 2020, Bayer drew up a roadmap based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and took steps to implement it.

Bayer said it has now switched to 100 percent green electricity in Spain and Mexico. As part of its efforts to protect the climate, the company has initiated a pilot project in the United States and Brazil to help farmers adopt climate-friendly practices and utilize carbon capture and storage for their commercial benefit.

In line with its goals of reaching more people on low incomes, the company has launched the "Better Farms, Better Lives" program. Under this program, the company has provided more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers with access to modern crop protection products. In collaboration with The Challenge Initiative, Bayer is providing support for solutions in the area of family planning and reproductive health for women and girls in Africa.

According to the company, the establishment of the external sustainability council marked another important step. Furthermore, the attainment of sustainability targets has been incorporated into the long-term variable compensation of members of the board of management and other managers. A 20 percent weighting in the success factors starts in 2021.