German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer, maker of Aspirin, said Tuesday it was confident for the current year after nearly doubling profits in 2011. Bayer booked net profit of 2.47 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in 2011, an increase of 89.9 percent over the year-earlier figure.
Underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), was up 52 percent at 4.149 billion euros and revenues advanced by 4.1 percent to 36.528 billion euros. "We got off to a solid start in 2012," said chief executive Marijn Dekkers. "We are confident for the company's future development." Last year was "a very successful year for Bayer, both strategically and operationally," and the group achieved record levels of sales and underlying profits, the chief executive boasted. "We exceeded the sales record set in 2010," with business driven primarily by a strong 9.0-percent increase in sales in emerging markets, Bayer said. By division, sales in the healthcare subgroup increased by 1.5 percent to 17.169 billion euros last year.
"One of our strengths continues to be our well-stocked development pipeline in pharmaceuticals. We were particularly successful here in 2011," said CEO Dekkers. In the agrochemicals or crop science division, sales rose by 6.2 percent to 7.255 billion euros, with all regions contributing to growth. Only the material science division failed to meet expectations, Dekkers said.