Bayer sees 3rd-qtr loss and settles for a "mid-size Euro pharma" image

Germany's Bayer AG presented third-quarter 2003 results in line withexpectations at its fall press conference in Leverkusen on November 11 which showed a net loss of 123 million euros ($141.4 million), compared with a profit of 656 million euros in the like, 2002 period.

At the same time, chairman of the management board Werner Wenning said that, having failed to find a partner that would provide value-added input to its pharmaceutical operations, it would now settle down and make progress as an innovative middle-sized European drug corporation. A few days earlier, Bayer announced that it is hiving-off some of its chemical, plastics and rubber operations into a stand-alone company, temporarily named NewCo, which will be floated in early-2005 (see also page 27).

Explaining the company's decisions, Mr Wenning said it is possible to develop the value of the pharmaceutical business internally, and stressed he always intended that this business would not be sold, but rather that the firm wanted a deal to strengthen it, noting that "we found that none of the solutions would have adequately reflected the true value of our pharmaceutical business."