BAYN.DE - Bayer Aktiengesellschaft
| Previous close | 69.18 |
| Open | 69.13 |
| Bid | 68.89 x 28400 |
| Ask | 68.92 x 2100 |
| Day's range | 68.55 - 69.47 |
| 52-week range | 52.02 - 73.17 |
| Volume | 1668692 |
| Avg. volume | 2,696,199 |
| Market cap | 64B |
| Beta (3Y monthly) | 1.16 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -1.27 |
| Earnings date | 27 Feb 2020 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 2.80 (4.05%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 2019-04-29 |
| 1y target est | 120.99 |
- Reuters
Bayer reaches agreement to postpone more glyphosate lawsuits for settlement talks
Germany's Bayer has agreed with plaintiffs to postpone its next two U.S. lawsuits over the alleged cancer-causing effects of its glyphosate-based weed killers to allow more time for talks on a settlement. The company, which is facing 42,700 U.S. plaintiffs, is widely expected to eventually buy itself out of the litigation, with analysts currently estimating the size of a future settlement at $8-$12 billion. Bayer agreed with the plaintiff to delay for about six months a case in the California Superior Court for Lake County scheduled for Jan. 15, a company spokesman said in a written statement.
- Bloomberg
Heart Drugs Are Having a Moment
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Drugmakers have spent years de-emphasizing heart medications in favor of higher-priced treatments for cancer and rare diseases. As America enters its most caloric season, it looks like that is starting to change, for now. Novartis AG made a particularly large commitment Sunday with its $9.7 billion purchase of Medicines Co. and its promising new cholesterol drug. Meanwhile, biotechnology company Amarin Corp.’s bet on its fish-oil-derived capsule Vascepa is starting to pay off: Its shares soared earlier this month after a Food and Drug Administration panel recently suggested the pill — which was shown to cut cardiac risk in a huge trial last year — be made available to millions of additional patients. Heart medicines are also key pipeline components or sales drivers at a number of big pharmaceutical companies as well, from Merck & Co. and Bayer AG to Pfizer Inc.Investment in cardiac medicines is positive for patients and public health; after all, heart disease remains the most significant cause of death in the U.S. There’s a reason that drugmakers had backed away, however. These companies will have to navigate a harsh market environment to keep this mini-renaissance alive. Effective heart disease medicines, including statins for cholesterol and drugs for high blood pressure, have become much cheaper as generic options have hit the market. That’s excellent for patients and health budgets, as expanded use of these drugs has been impactful enough to slow Medicare spending growth. But it makes things difficult for newer, higher-priced medicines to make inroads. Next-generation drugs need to prove they can add something on top of or substantially outperform cheaper options to have a chance at anything but niche success. They sometimes still struggle even if they do. Cardiovascular drugs take time to have an impact, and the American health-care system isn’t patient. People change health insurance all the time as they swap or lose jobs, pick a new plan, or have one selected for them. Health plans often focus on annual costs and don’t always want to pay extra for an uncertain benefit that might eventually save someone else money. That tendency is most pronounced in large markets, where rapid uptake of a new drug translates into substantial spending increases.Two relatively new cholesterol drugs — Praluent, from Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceutical Co., and Amgen Inc.’s Repatha — are the most significant recent cautionary tales. They were both approved in 2015 with high expectations and are effective medications, but the market balked at their high price and threw up barriers to access. The result was a glacial launch. Sales remain sluggish even after major price cuts. Medicine Co.’s inclisiran lowers cholesterol at a similar rate by using the same drug target as those medicines but requires far less frequent dosing. Novartis will have to find out whether convenience is enough to command a premium price and avoid the same commercial fate. As for Amarin, a drug-price watchdog called Vascepa a rare cost-effective option for heart disease earlier this year. That doesn’t guarantee a rapid ascent to blockbuster sales. The drug’s future is partially in the FDA’s hands. The exact language of the agency’s expanded approval will help determine how many new patients will get access. The bigger part is arguably once again up to health plans. They will decide how strictly to interpret the FDA’s guidelines, and whether patients will have to jump through hoops to get the medicine. The size of the potential patient population may inspire them to clamp down, cost-effectiveness be damned. The barriers to heart drugs are navigable. Novartis was likely inspired to pay up for Medicines because it managed the feat with its heart-failure treatment Entresto. Sales of the drug started extremely slowly, but are now growing at a respectable clip. There is a clear opportunity in this somewhat neglected space. Profiting from it might require a high risk tolerance and an extra measure of patience. To contact the author of this story: Max Nisen at mnisen@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Beth Williams at bewilliams@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Max Nisen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, pharma and health care. He previously wrote about management and corporate strategy for Quartz and Business Insider.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Bayer's Monsanto pleads guilty to illegal Hawaii pesticide spraying
The Department of Justice said late Thursday that Monsanto sprayed Penncap-M, which contained the banned pesticide methyl parathion, on research crops in 2014, despite knowing that the Environmental Protection Agency prohibited its use after 2013. It also said Monsanto, now part of Germany's Bayer AG, admitted it let employees enter the sprayed fields after seven days despite knowing it should have waited 31 days.
- Reuters - UK Focus
Sanofi weighing options for consumer healthcare unit-sources
FRANKFURT/PARIS, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Sanofi is considering a joint venture or outright sale among options for its consumer healthcare unit, sources told Reuters, as the French drugmaker prepares to present a new strategic plan next month. An initial public offering (IPO) of the unit, which could be worth around $30 billion according to two sources familiar with the matter, is also on the cards. Sources cautioned that no final decision had been made.
- The Guardian
Revealed: Bayer AG discussed plans to give not-for-profit funding for influence
Revealed: Bayer AG discussed plans to give not-for-profit funding for influence. Emails between two senior executives and a journalist show discussions aimed at giving Bayer a voice in press foundation initiatives
- Reuters - UK Focus
FOCUS-Biotech-for-hire PeptiDream charts new path and becomes short target
The promise of PeptiDream Inc's drug-discovery technology and its lucrative research-for-hire contracts have made it a darling of the Tokyo stock market. Now, those gains have made it a target for short-seller Muddy Waters. The company, which has seen its market value jump fivefold to $6 billion over the past four years, is now pivoting its strategy to in-house research, using its technology that allows it to create libraries of peptide chemicals that can bind drugs to cells.
- Bloomberg
Unilever Chairman Leaves $162 Billion Role to Run $85 Million Fund
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- And then there were none.Almost exactly a year after Unilever NV announced the departure of chief executive officer Paul Polman, the consumer goods giant’s chairman Marijn Dekkers is stepping down with immediate effect. Nils Andersen, a non-executive director since 2015, will replace him.In one sense it’s a natural time for a change. Dekkers has overseen the CEO succession, with Alan Jope starting last January. Unless something goes horribly wrong, that should be off the agenda for some time. Yet it jars that the chairman is leaving the post immediately after filling it for just three years.Unilever says he wants to concentrate on his responsibilities as founder and chairman of Novalis LifeSciences, an investment and advisory firm for the drugmaking industry. Novalis recently raised $85 million and plans to invest in at least eight companies. The suggestion was that this didn’t leave much time for leading the board of Unilever, whose market value is 147 billion euros ($162 billion).Dekkers, a former CEO of Bayer AG, will stay as a non-executive director. It’s strange nonetheless that Unilever didn’t wait until its annual shareholder meeting in April before standing him down. It’s hard not to link the wholesale change at the top of the Anglo-Dutch company to its botched attempt to simplify into a single Netherlands-based organization.After this unification effort was abandoned last year, the future of Unilever’s dual-headed corporate structure is unresolved. Andersen will need to address this, especially if the company wants to spin off its food business or use its shares to make a big acquisition in the U.S. Having two classes of shares makes this more difficult.That the new chairman is neither British nor Dutch (he’s Danish) is helpful given that the future domicile will probably be on the agenda again. However, hiring an outsider would have been better still for tackling such a profound question; Jope is a Unilever lifer.The new CEO may now find himself confronted by a stronger chairman given that Dekkers was damaged by the unification debacle. Andersen has relevant experience too: He was chief executive of the brewer Carlsberg A/S between 2001 and 2007.Jope has a difficult enough task in accelerating sales growth, which has been stubbornly sluggish despite Unilever’s strong portfolio of brands and enviable emerging market exposure. Making a success of the company’s many acquisitions, from fake meat to premium laundry, is another priority. Integrating these businesses, often created by entrepreneurial founders, into the Unilever culture isn’t easy.Longer term, Jope and Andersen must decide whether to stick with the food business after Unilver sold its spreads arm in 2017, or whether to go all in on the faster growing beauty and personal care brands. If they do decide on radical change, it will need to be better executed than the plan to ditch the British headquartersTo contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Simply Wall St.
Bayer (ETR:BAYN) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility...
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-We're unlikely to see a repeat of late 2018 rout
* European shares flat before Fed meeting * Fiat Chrysler and PSA confirm tie-up talks, stocks rally * Bank earnings in focus: DB, CS, StanChart, Santander * Fed seen cutting rates, focus on policy outlook Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. "They (investors) seem to be worried about a repeat of the painful de-risking seen in November and December last year, but we believe it is unlikely to materialise," Barclays equity strategists led by Emmanuel Cau say in a note. Here's a chart on high 2020 earnings expectations and market's de-risking in late 2018, when 2019 expectations came of rails: (Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ***** UK HOUSEBUILDERS ON ELECTION WATCH (0945 GMT) So now we have an election date -- Dec. 12 -- and housebuilders are among the sectors that could be affected.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-Opening snapshot: PSA and Fiat Chrysler steal the show
* European shares open little changed before Fed meeting * Fiat Chrysler and PSA confirm tie-up talks, stocks rally * Bank earnings in focus: DB, CS, StanChart, Santander * Fed seen cutting rates, focus on policy outlook Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reach him on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net OPENING SNAPSHOT: PSA AND FIAT CHRYSLER STEALS THE SHOW (0828 GMT) It's the main headline of the day so it's only fair in a way that PSA and Fiat Chrysler get the spotlight this morning with their shares surging 8.7% and 7.5% respectively.
- Reuters
Bayer says U.S. glyphosate plaintiffs more than double since July
Germany's Bayer is now facing 42,700 U.S. plaintiffs blaming its glyphosate-based weedkillers for their cancer, more than twice the tally in July and potentially raising any future settlement. Bayer, the inventor of aspirin and owner of Yasmin birth control and Claritin allergy relief brands, is widely expected to eventually buy itself out of the litigation, with analysts currently estimating the size of a future settlement at $8-$12 billion. "The number of lawsuits, first and foremost, doesn't tell us anything about their merits," Chief Executive Werner Baumann said in a media call.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-Fed watching, Q3 galore and the Xmas Brexit election
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Christmas will come early to the UK this year, precisely on December 12 in the form of a UK general election. It's far from certain however that the polls will deliver anything on Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn's wish list but less than 48 hours ahead of Halloween, investors aren't spooked by the prospect of the process going all wrong.
- Reuters
Bayer expects significant surge in number of U.S. glyphosate cases
Bayer expects the number of claims in the United States related to Roundup herbicide to have surged in the third quarter, as the German drugs and pesticides maker tries to reach a settlement after earlier court rulings against it. Bayer, which acquired Roundup and other glyphosate-based weed killers as part of its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto last year, faces potentially heavy litigation costs as plaintiffs claim Roundup causes cancer, something Bayer disputes. Bayer's shares have lost about 30% of their value since last August when a California jury in the first such lawsuit found Monsanto should have warned of the alleged cancer risks.
- Reuters
Australian farmer brings legal action vs Bayer over weedkiller: report
An Australian farmer has launched a legal action against Bayer AG's agricultural chemicals unit Monsanto after being diagnosed with a type of cancer he says was caused by its weedkiller, a lawyer for the man said on Friday. New South Wales farmer Ross Wild was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma last year after using the weedkiller Roundup on his farming property near the border of NSW and Victoria since 1976, according to his lawyer Tony Carbone, of Melbourne-based Carbone lawyers.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-European shares rise after last week's 3% slide
European shares rose on Monday, after their steepest weekly loss in two months, as bids in defensive shares outweighed nervousness ahead of crucial U.S.-China trade talks and Brexit negotiations. The food and beverage sector was among the top gainers, while Bayer's 1.4% rise helped the healthcare index climb 0.9%. Bayer's gain, which also lifted peers in the chemical sector , was spurred by the company saying a pending U.S. lawsuit over claims related to glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup has been delayed until further notice.
- Reuters - UK Focus
CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-European shares muted as gains in defensives outweigh nerves on trade, Brexit
European shares were little changed in choppy trade on Monday, after their steepest weekly loss in two months, as bids in defensive shares outweighed nervousness ahead of crucial U.S.-China trade talks and Brexit negotiations. Bayer climbed 1.3% as the company said a pending U.S. lawsuit over claims related to glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup has been delayed until further notice. Bayer's shares helped the healthcare index climb 0.6%, while other defensive stocks popular in times of economic strife - food and beverage and utilities - were also leading gains.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-Opening snapshot: Carefully off the back foot
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reach him on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net OPENING SNAPSHOT: CAREFULLY OFF THE BACK FOOT (0840 GMT) European stock markets opened in the red and slightly worse than what futures or spreabetters indications had initially suggested.
- Reuters
Bayer says Oct. U.S. glyphosate trial delayed until further notice
A pending U.S. lawsuit over claims related to Bayer's glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup has been delayed, the company said on Sunday, with a court status conference in February, 2020. "The Oct. 15, 2019 trial date for Winston v. Monsanto in St. Louis City has been postponed," Bayer said in a statement. The lawsuit is the latest of several to be delayed as mediator Ken Feinberg tries to negotiate a settlement between the company and U.S. plaintiffs after a California jury in August last year found that Monsanto should have warned of alleged cancer risks.
- Reuters
Bayer to spend over 25 billion euros in crop science R&D over 10 years
German drugmaker Bayer on Tuesday said it is to spend more than 25 billion euros ($27.22 billion) on research and development at its agriculture unit over the next 10 years. "Agriculture needs to feed a growing world without starving the planet," Liam Condon, board member and head of the crop science division, said at a company event. Investments in crop science unit last year, on a pro forma basis, amounted to 2.3 billion euros, Bayer said.
