Special payments linked to Bayer's crop science business cost the German company more than 20.4 billion euros in 2020 — equal to about $25 billion, today — according to year-end financial results released Thursday, ahead of a call with investors. The payouts included sums from agreements reached in lawsuits surrounding glyphosate and dicamba, the chemicals featured in marquee weedkiller products sold by Bayer.
The crop science expenditures accounted for a dominant portion — nearly 90% — of more than 23 billion euros in "special charges" identified by the company as losses. The costs helped anchor Bayer's deeply negative bottom line for the year, with net losses reaching nearly 10.5 billion euros, or about $12.8 billion, companywide.
Despite those hefty overall losses, Bayer described a positive performance , reporting annual and quarterly gains for its crop science division when adjusted for factors such as currency effects, which can be swung by the value of the euro, for instance. And while income for the company's agricultural unit fell in North America, Bayer leaders said it was offset by growth in other regions, such as Latin America and Asia.
The report of positive adjusted earnings also came despite an overall decrease in revenue from the company's crop science arm, which saw sales fall to less than 4.2 billion euros in the final quarter of 2020 — a drop of more than 10% from the more than 4.6 billion euros it earned in the same period a year prior. Similarly, the division saw its annual sales slip by 5%, from more than 19.8 billion euros in 2019, to about 18.8 billion euros, or nearly $23 billion, in 2020.
Bayer Crop Science has its global seeds and traits headquarters and North American headquarters in Creve Coeur, Mo., at the former campus of Monsanto, which the company acquired in 2018 for $63 billion. Monsanto, the agribusiness giant with deep St. Louis roots, originally developed and gave rise to products for which Bayer has assumed liability in legal battles.
