The Bayer Cross in Leverkusen (Photo: Bayer AG)
Leverkusen – does he come or does he not come? The crisis group Bayer is felt in the permanent turnaround, but does not really come off the spot. CEO Bill Anderson is in office for almost 3 years and now has to deliver – this should make shareholders clear to him at the general meeting.
The share price recovered somewhat in 2025 despite Trump chaos-but at a weak level. Record stands over 65 euros like in 2022 have moved far away, the fall was violent. The paper has risen around 16 percent since the beginning of the year, currently noted at EUR 22.37 (4 p.m. CEST).
The general meeting of Bayer AG begins on Friday, April 25, 2025, at 10 a.m. The shareholder meeting takes place purely virtually. Registered shareholders and their representatives can switch on the shareholder portal. The general meeting is also publicly in Live stream transmitted.
Bayer’s problem child is the agricultural business – also operational. The other divisions could not compensate for the agricultural weakness Annual turnover went in 2024 from 47.6 to 46.6 billion euros. The adjusted operational profit (EBITDA) fell from 11.71 to 10.12 billion euros before special influences.
And so it continues according to Bayer’s own forecast: EBITDA is to go back to 9.5 billion to 10 billion euros before special influences in 2025. The group sees the profit per share at 4.50 to 5 euros. As a sales expectation 2025, Bayer spent 45 billion to 47 billion euros.
Mini dividend as in the previous year-agricultural business should catch up
A mirror of the crisis is the dividend: Micky 11 cents per share wants to propose the Bayer leadership of the general meeting-as much as yesteryear. In 2023, the group distributed 2.40 euros. This year is April 30, the so-called ex-day of April 28.
Now the turnaround should succeed: Bayer CEO Bill Anderson wants to make the agricultural business in the “Crop Science” division more profitable, he announces in his Pre -published speech in advance to the shareholders. In the Pharmaceuticals division, he relies on the Nubeqa cancer and the Kerendia kidney medication.
Challenges for Bayer- linchpin glyphosate
Bayer has all sorts of construction sites: Anderson has prescribed a structural change to the group, 7,000 jobs fell away, management levels canceled. Bayer also fights with a high debt and suffers from the fact that the patent protection for the coagulation inhibitor Xarelto has expired.
The mother of all problems at Bayer is called glyphosate. The pesticide is suspected of exciting cancer. With the takeover of the developer Monsanto, Bayer has dealt with a non -ending wave of lawsuits. In around 67,000 cases, an agreement was available at the end of January 2025.
Capital increase against glyphosate risks-exit to the USA?
Now fresh money is supposed to help solve the glyphosate problem: the general meeting should decide on a capital increase. The funds of a maximum of 875 million euros the board wants to useto protect yourself against the consequences of the legal disputes and to support Kreditrating.
And Anderson even indicates a glyphosate turn: Bayer could come to a point where it sets glyphosate-based products such as the weed destroyer Roundup in the USA. “The status quo is not an option”, so Anderson. The legal risks would have to be significantly echoed.
Bayer critic with counter-applications-Deka Manager makes announcement
A glyphosate withdrawal would probably be in the sense of the association coordination against Bayer hazards Counter -applications to prevent the capital increase and other decisions to the general meeting. For example, the CBG is against a new mandate to continue virtual shareholders’ meetings in the future.
Ingo Spein Speit from Deka Investment, his speech, goes hard with the management deractionaer.de reported in advance. Bayer is in a strategic dead end. Since Bill Anderson came to the helm in 2023, the share price has more than halved. “We expect solutions,” said Speich.
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