Bayer: ups 2017 profit and sales forecasts on Covestro.

(CercleFinance.com) - German drugmaker Bayer said the strong performance of its polymers unit Covestro has enabled it to lift its full-year earnings and sales targets.


Sales are now expected to increase to around 51 billion euros this year, up from a previous target of over 49 billion euros, with EBITDA before special items now expected to improve by a low-teens percentage, up from a mid-single-digit percentage previously.

As a reminder, Bayer's interest in Covestro - which is now separately listed on the Xetra market - amounts to 53%, compared to 64% at end-2016.

In the first quarter, Bayer group's sales rose by 11.7% to 13.2 billion euros, while EBITDA before special items rose 14.9% to 3.9 billion euros.

The Leverkusen-based company said it enjoyed growth momentum across all segments, but points out a "very good business development" at pharmaceuticals and a "significant increase" in sales and earnings at Covestro.

In the end, first-quarter net income rose by 37.9% to close to 2.1 billion euros.

After these figures, Bayer was the biggest winner on Frankfurt's DAX index this morning, up 2.8% at 111.1 euros.

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