Extreme weather weighs on German chemical giant Bayer's agriculture business

Turnover of German agrochemical giant Bayer increased by 0.9 percent to a total of 11.5 billion euros (12.8 billion U.S. dollars) while operational profits (EBITDA) increased by nearly a quarter to 2.9 billion euros in the second quarter of 2019 (Q2), the company announced on Tuesday. Bayer's Crop Science division recorded a reported increase in turnover of 59.0 percent to 4.8 billion euros thanks mainly to the acquisition of the U.S. biotech and seed company Monsanto. However, sales of Bayer's agricultural business saw a decline of 9.9 percent on a pro-forma basis. In this context, sales are presented as if the acquisition of Monsanto and the associated divestments had already taken place as of January 2018.
Business of its Crop Science division had been "significantly impacted" by extreme weather conditions such as flooding and heavy rains in the Midwestern United States while droughts in large parts of Europe and in Canada also had a particularly "negative effect", according to Bayer.