Bayer shares plunge on write-down warning
Bayer shares plunged on Thursday (October 1).
The stock dropped close to 13 percent, before recovering a little ground.
That after the German firm warned it might have to write down the value of its assets by almost 12 billion dollars.
The news has rekindled a debate over its takeover of Monsanto.
Bayer acquired the U.S. seed maker for 63 billion dollars in 2018.
But soon after found itself facing thousands of law suits over claims that Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
An 11 billion dollar settlement is still being fought over.
Now Bayer says the new write down warning follows a bigger-than-expected hit to its agriculture business from the global slowdown.
It’s also been knocked by growing competition over soya seeds, and currency movements that worked against it.
The firm now expects 2021 sales to be little or no better, with core earnings per share maybe even down on this year.
One analyst told Reuters it was typical of Bayer to deliver a ‘basket of bad news’ every year.
Another said a breakup of the company would be back on the agenda for investors.
Company boss Werner Baumann has just won a show of support from the chairman though.
The driving force behind the Monsanto takeover, he’s just had his contract extended to 2024.
