Bayer beats Q1 profit estimates on strong agricultural sales

(Sharecast News) - Strong growth in Bayer's agricultural division powered profit growth in the first quarter, with the German pharma and biotech giant beating analysts' estimates with its bottom line but missing market forecasts for sales.

The company said it made a "solid start" to 2026, as it reconfirmed its guidance for the year, excluding currency effects which are having a big negative impact on the top line.

Group sales rose 4.1% on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis to €13.41bn, excluding the €886m negative impact on FX movements. This was slightly shy of the €13.42bn consensus forecast.

However, adjusted EBITDA rose 9.0% to €4.45bn, topping the €3.93bn expected by the market.

Sales in the Crop Science business, which accounts for more than half of group revenues, rose 6.8% on an adjusted basis to €7.56bn, driven by a doubling in sales from the Soybean Seed & Traits arm, which was helped by a €448m boost from the resolution of a licensing agreement with Corteva in North America. Crop Science EBITDA before special items surged 17.9% to €3.01bn.

The Consumer Health business also reported solid growth, with sales up 5.3% on an adjusted basis to €1.49bn, though EBITDA fell 1.5% to €337m.

However, sales in the pharma division fell 0.5% on an adjusted basis to €4.25bn, with generic pressure weighing on revenues due to patent expirations of certain drugs, as EBITDA dropped 7.5% to €1.24bn.

"We're pleased with how our businesses started the year and we're confirming our currency-adjusted outlook for 2026," said chief executive Bill Anderson. "We continue to advance our plan and we're dialled in on delivering our commitments in the current year."

Looking ahead, Bayer expects to report sales of €44.5bn-46.5bn, with the guidance range upped by €0.5bn, while EBITDA should by €9.4bn-9.9bn, up from an earlier forecast of €9.1bn-9.6bn, based on current FX rates.

"This is just a point-in-time analysis," said chief financial officer Wolfgang Nickl, adding that "we would still expect ongoing volatility around foreign exchange rate developments for the rest of this year."

Bayer shares were up 5.8% at €39.23 by 1009 BST.