With the big noise demo underway outside Bayer's UK HQ, it looks like they're going down the pan anyway.
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Bayer under pressure - posts 3rd-quarter net loss of 8M
November 12, 2003
Associated Press
David Mchugh

FRANKFURT, Germany --Drug and chemicals maker Bayer AG swung to a loss in the third quarter as sales fell at divisions the company will soon spin off and analysts warned the remaining drug and farm chemicals businesses face pressure too. Bayer said Tuesday it lost 123 million ($138 million) in the July-September period in contrast to profits of 656 million a year ago and 128 million in the second quarter.

Sales fell 8.4 percent to 6.83 billion ($7.85 billion) from 7.46 billion a year ago. The company in part blamed the euro's rise against the dollar, which shrinks U.S. earnings when they're reported in euros. Bayer said sales fell 24 percent at industrial chemicals and 5 percent at polymers.

The businesses that make up the future Bayer showed difficulties in the third quarter as well.

The farm chemicals business is weak worldwide with one reason being the increasing use of genetically modified crops that need less protection from disease. [oh, really!]
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A split unlike all others, Bayer will remain "hybrid"
Les Echos November 10, 2003
Up to now the ICI model has been followed by many industrials. Chemical and Pharmaceutical activities were separated in order for the latter to receive a better stock market valuation while the former can use its cash for its own development. The pharmaceutical wing was called Zeneca, which then merged with Swedish firm Astra. Many other groups followed suit during the 90s resulting in the formation of pharma groups like Novartis and Aventis and chemical groups like Ciba and Clariant. The model has even been fine-tuned over time and agrochemical activities, often kept by the pharma groups, were also spilt off. Thus, Novartis and AstraZeneca created Syngenta at the end of 1999. Pharmacia took similar action resulting in the creation of GMO specialist Monsanto. Bayer is the only company present in both the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors that has not split the two activities and remains a hybrid company.