Bayers profits increase in 2022 due to higher herbicide prices.

German chemical firm Bayer announced today that rising prices and strong demand for its glyphosate-based weedkillers contributed to its quadrupling of net profit in 2022.

But, the Leverkusen-based company issued a warning that it anticipated prices to decline once further, which would result in lower profitability in 2023.

In 2022, net profit increased from 1.0 billion to 4.15 billion euros (US$4.3 billion), according to a statement from Bayer.

Sales for the group increased by 8.7% to 50.7 billion euros, in line with expert predictions.

Notwithstanding the difficult environment, Bayer had a very good year in 2022, according to outgoing CEO Werner Baumann.

Record revenues in the company's agricultural segment, increasing more than 15% annually to 25 billion euros, helped the results.

In a period when "supply for glyphosate-based products was restricted," Bayer claimed that this was "in particular thanks to higher costs" for herbicides across all areas.

Nevertheless, Bayer added, those prices are probably going to drop this year as supply chain restrictions loosen.

But sales in the group's pharmaceuticals division only increased by 1% in 2022.

The firm is under pressure to introduce new products to make up for the patents on several successful drugs expiring in the upcoming years.

In Brazil, the patent on the most popular blood thinner, Xarelto, has already expired. The patent on the eye medication Eylea is also about to expire.

Sales of over-the-counter medications, which are sold by the group's consumer health division, increased by 8.4% as a result of the high demand for allergy and cold medications.

In 2023, group sales are expected to increase by a meager "two to three percent," according to Baumann, as the company prepares for dropping pricing for several pharmaceuticals and herbicides.

Pre-tax earnings (EBITDA), down from 13.5 billion in 2022, are anticipated to be between 12.5 and 13.0 billion euros by Bayer.

New CEO

Following demands for a change in strategy at the German company from activist investors, Baumann will be replaced starting in June by former Roche CEO Bill Anderson.

The company will be divided into an agricultural and a pharmaceutical group by the new investors, which include Bluebird Capital Partners.

A separate Bayer pharmaceutical company, according to some analysts, may be a target for acquisition, making the proposition contentious.

During his tenure, Baumann handled the contentious $63 billion acquisition of American company Monsanto in 2018.

Bayer took up Monsanto's legal problems over its glyphosate-containing Roundup weedkiller.

Since then, Bayer has been the target of a flurry of litigation in the US over allegations that Roundup causes cancer, which the company disputes.

The legal battle has cost Bayer tens of billions of euros and severely impacted its stock price.

Around midday in Frankfurt, shares of Bayer were trading roughly 4% lower at 56.20 euros. — AFP

The tamilgun is a free public website that allows you to search for guides and it is sharing information about the business, education, finance and technology.

Asian currencies drop due to concerns about rate hikes, and stocks are down.

On Tuesday, ASIAN currencies and stocks were mixed as concerns about potential future interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve lingered, and the Thai baht was expected to have its worst month in 23 years.

The Philippine peso increased by 0.6%, but it was about to end a winning streak of four months. Malaysia's ringgit decreased 0.2%, while the Indonesian rupiah increased 0.2%.

The baht lost 0.5% of its value. The currency's decline in February was 6.4%, the largest monthly decline since September 1999.

The Bank of Thailand estimates that the economy of the nation would expand by 3% to 4% this year, and that inflation, which is presently at 5.02%, will drop to within the 1% to 3% range that the central bank had set as its target range in the second half of 2023.

The world's largest economy continues to remain strong, and recent positive economic data from the United States has increased hopes that the Fed would raise interest rates more aggressively.

The Fed will likely raise rates a third time this year by 25 basis points, and the market now anticipates a 5.4% peak in rates by September.

According to Michael Loh, Asia FX strategist at BNP Paribas, "U.S. inflation is proving to be stickier than projected, in contrast to many Asian nations where inflationary supply shocks from energy and food have passed."

"As a result, this is causing monetary policy divergence both within the area and in comparison to the United States."

Since January, most central banks in Southeast Asia have scaled back their tightening of monetary and financial conditions. The Bank of Thailand has hinted at future gradual tightening while the central bank of Malaysia surprisingly took a break.

The dollar index, which compares the value of the dollar to six other currencies, increased by 0.2% to 104.81 and is now aiming for its first monthly gain of more than 2.5% since September.

OCBC analysts maintained their belief that the upside for the dollar may be constrained as Fed tightening enters its late cycle, even though the U.S. dollar may be supported for the time being as markets re-price a higher top.

Stocks in Manila rose 0.7% to lead gains among the regional equities markets. While stocks in Jakarta and shares in Kuala Lumpur both down 0.1%, Singapore's benchmark index increased by 0.4%.

Summary:

Thailand's manufacturing production index fell by 4.35% less than anticipated in January compared to a year earlier as exports were negatively impacted by the global recession.

** Markets anticipate India's Q3 GDP numbers for fiscal year 2022–2023, which are expected to increase by 4.6% year over year from the previous quarter's 6.3%.

The possibility of a quick revision to ultra-loose monetary policy was dismissed by newly appointed Bank of Japan deputy governor Shinichi Uchida, according to Reuters.

The tamilgun is a free public website that allows you to search for guides and it is sharing information about the business, education, finance and technology.

BCorp anticipates a positive result in FY23.

Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) is confident that its performance will be sufficient for the remaining quarters of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, notwithstanding the rising operational costs (FY23).

"Although the post-pandemic recovery of the global and domestic economies is gaining traction, the recent increase in global inflationary rates due to the reduction of commodity supplies and supply chain disruption as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, Covid-19 lockdowns in China, and geopolitical tensions has hampered the economic recovery.

The conglomerate stated in a statement that, "Taking into consideration the abovementioned and barring any unforeseen circumstances," the performance of the group's business operations for the remaining quarters of FY23 will likely be satisfactory despite the strain of rising operational costs moving forward.

In the second quarter that concluded on December 31, BCorp reported a net loss of RM24.8 million compared to a net profit of RM101 million from the sale of an affiliated company that was reported in the equivalent quarter the year before.

It reported a 0.44 sen loss per share during the quarter compared to 1.77 sen in earnings per share the year prior.

Nonetheless, revenue increased 13.6% from RM2.05 billion to RM2.33 billion.

With RM4.6bil in revenue for the first six months ending December 31, BCorp reported a net loss of RM41.2mil.

The tamilgun is a free public website that allows you to search for guides and it is sharing information about the business, education, finance and technology.

Mobile industry leaders reveal a unified interface to entice cloud developers

The largest mobile phone providers in the world revealed a new uniform interface that will give programmers access to all of their networks, accelerating the release of new services and goods.

According to an interview with GSMA Director General Mats Granryd, the gateway, called Open Gateway, will be unveiled on February 27 during the organization's annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Of the 21 GSMA members, AT&T Inc., China Mobile Ltd., Deutsche Telekom AG, and Vodafone Group Plc. will use the interface.

Granryd stated, "We have the remarkable reach out to your pocket and down to the base station. And that is what we are working to make available to the developer community so that you, either as a customer or a business owner, will ultimately profit.

Mobile network operators are abandoning a past strategy of going it alone and combining to become more appealing partners for technology giants. These companies have struggled for years to develop in competitive and saturated marketplaces. Enabling developers to create services that can run simultaneously over various networks may result in new and improved services.

The project has the support of major cloud providers, including Amazon Inc.'s AWS and Microsoft Inc.'s Azure, according to a GSMA statement released on Monday.

Over the past ten years, Internet usage has increased dramatically, but mobile operators have mostly failed to capitalize on this trend. As a result, the European Union is looking into ways to get major American technology companies to help pay for carriers' network costs. by Bloomberg

The tamilgun is a free public website that allows you to search for guides and it is sharing information about the business, education, finance and technology.

Using education to break the cycle of poverty

Visitors during a ceremony at SJK (C) Man Ming in Gopeng, Perak, when a check was presented.

To aid disadvantaged students, three Chinese elementary schools received a total of RM30,000. Through the "Share the Love" Foundation, SJK (C) Man Ming, SJK (C) New Kopisan, and SJK (C) Lawan Kuda each received RM10,000.

According to the initiative's originator, Dr. Lee Ming Tai, 20 students from each school will receive RM500 annually to lessen the financial strain on their parents.

He claimed that education was the only way to combat poverty. He continued by saying that Tan Sri Vincent Tan, chairman of Berjaya Company Bhd, provided the monies.

Loh Chee Kee, the headmaster of SJK (C) Man Ming, hoped that the beneficiaries would live up to the standards set for them.

The tamilgun is a free public website that allows you to search for guides and it is sharing information about the business, education, finance and technology.