[1]German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer, maker of Aspirin, said on Thursday it got off to an 'encouraging start' to 2012 with net profit soaring 53.5 per cent in the first three months.
"The Bayer group saw an encouraging start to 2012," it said in a letter to shareholders.
Net profit grew to 1.05 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the period from January to March, compared with 684 million euros a year earlier.
Underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), increased by 42.6 percent to 1.637 billion euros and sales were up 6.8 percent at 10.056 billion euros.
All divisions contributed to the positive results, particularly the agrochemicals business CropScience, "which experienced a strong start to the season," said chief executive Marijn Dekkers.
"In view of the good start to 2012, we are increasingly confident for the rest of the year," Dekkers said.
In view of the continuing uncertainties, however, Bayer was maintaining the guidance for 2012 it issued at the end of February, when it forecasted that full-year sales would rise by around 3.0 per cent to some 37 billion euros accompanied by a slight improvement in underlying earnings.
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