Bayer's sales climbed by 1% in 2013 to €40.2bn from €39.7bn in 2012 and management board chairman Marijn Dekkers welcomed the results: "This is a new record in our company's 150-year history".

 

EBIT for the company rose by 25.6% to €4.93bn from €3.9bn. EBITDA before special items rose by 1.5% to €8.4bn from €8.2bn in 2012. Negative currency effects decreased company earnings by about €260m overall.

 

Bayer's sales in its Material Science business, which includes polycarbonate and polyurethane materials, fell by 2.2% to €11.2bn in 2013 from €11.5bn in 2012.

 

Sales of polycarbonates fell by 4.5%, which Bayer attributed to a drop in volumes in all regions on account of weaker demand. It also cited that a further factor was the lower level of selling prices in Asia caused by market overcapacities.

 

EBITDA before special items of the Material Science subgroup dropped by 15.1% to €1bn from €1.26bn which Bayer said was mainly due to higher raw material costs.

 

"Despite the difficult market environment for Material Science in 2013, we are cautiously optimistic about the future," said Dekkers.

 

"We are also optimistic about 2014," continued Dekkers. "We aim to maintain the growth of our recently launched products in the Life Science businesses and improve profitability at Material Science."

 

In 2014 Bayer, which currently employs 113,200 people worldwide, says it plans to grow sales by around 5% with adjustments for currency and its portfolio.