Reply #44: Bayer 2Q Profit Up; 1500 North American Job Cuts Planned [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/print?id=2369006

BERLIN - German chemical and drug maker Bayer AG said Tuesday its second-quarter net profit increased by 11.3 percent, helped by sales growth at its health-care unit.

Bayer also announced a restructuring plan for its CropScience unit that will lead to about 1,500 job cuts by the end of 2009, mainly in North America.

Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer's net income for the April-June period was 452 million euros ($578 million), up from 406 million a year earlier. That was slightly short of the 461 million euros ($590 million) analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted.

Total sales rose by 5.8 percent to 7.07 billion euros ($9.04 billion) from 6.69 billion euros. Bayer's core health care unit posted the strongest advance, with sales increasing by 12.7 percent.

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Second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes and amortization rose by 14 percent to 928 million euros ($1.19 billion), beating analysts' forecast of 871 million euros ($1.1 billion).

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