Bayer : reports Q1 2018 financial results

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer AG, a Germany based multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, yesterday announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2018, as per the company's press-release.

The company reported a 2.0% increase in group sales, to EUR9.138bn. EBITDA before special items was down EUR2.896bn, which the company stated was due to currency effects and the figure is level with the prior year quarter on a currency adjusted basis. The company's net income was down by 6.2% to EUR1.954bn, and core earnings per share was down 1.3% at EUR2.28.

On presenting the interim report on Thursday, Werner Baumann, chairman of the Bayer board of management, said, 'We posted growth at Pharmaceuticals and in the Animal Health business.' He confirmed the currency-adjusted Group outlook for 2018 and said, 'We have made good headway strategically and have made major progress with the proposed acquisition of Monsanto.'
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MOSCOW (MRC) - India asked Japan on Tuesday to help build infrastructure needed to boost the usage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in India and elsewhere in Asia, India's oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said after a meeting with Japan's trade minister Hiroshige Seko, as per Hysrocarbonprocessing.

India wants to increase the share of gas, which is a cleaner fuel than oil, to 15 percent of its energy usage by 2030 from 6.2 percent currently.

"Explored opportunities for Japanese investments in India's gas infrastructure and SPR (strategic petroleum reserve) program," Pradhan tweeted after a meeting with Seko.

The two ministers also discussed the possibility of developing joint energy projects in Africa, Pradhan said. Seko's visit to New Delhi has come at a time when India is preparing to create a network with other major oil consumers in Asia, such as China, South Korea and Japan, to negotiate better terms with sellers.

The world's biggest LNG buyers, all in Asia, are increasingly clubbing together to secure more flexible supply contracts in a move that shifts power to importers from producers in an oversupplied market.

The world's three biggest LNG buyers - China, Japan and South Korea - joined together last year in March to secure flexible supply contracts.

India was not part of that group. However, in October the Indian cabinet approved a plan allowing New Delhi to work with Japan to make long-term LNG import deals more affordable for its consumers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fujian Refining & Petrochemical (FREP) has undertaken a planned shutdown at its polypropylene (PP) plant in Fujian Province, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has halted operations at the plant on April 23, 2018 for turnaround. The plant was likely to remain off-line for around 7-8 days.

Located in Fujian province, China, the PP plant has a production capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, in H2 March 2016, FREP restarted its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) units following an unplanned shutdown. They were shut on March 15, 2016 owing to a technical glitch at its upstream cracker. Located in Fujian province, China, the two PE units have a production capacity of 500,000 mt/year each while the two PP units have a production capacity of 330,000 mt/year and 220,000 mt/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer Group sold 28.81 million shares representing a 14.2 percent interest in Covestro at a price of 75.50 euros per share, as per the company's press release.

The proceeds of this sale totaled 2.2 billion euros. Bayer AG now holds just 6.8 percent of Covestro shares to repay the exchangeable bond that matures in 2020. Bayer AG acquired these shares from Bayer Pension Trust, which now no longer holds any Covestro shares.

"We very successfully concluded the selling process for this largest placement of Covestro shares,” said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG. Covestro has been listed on the stock exchange since October 6, 2015, and was promoted to Germany’s lead index DAX a few weeks ago. Through the sale of Covestro shares since the IPO, Bayer has generated proceeds of more than 9 billion euros. The exchangeable bond issued in June last year raised an additional one billion euros. “This is a very pleasing result, which we achieved faster than anticipated,” explained Johannes Dietsch, Chief Financial Officer of Bayer AG. “Moreover, the proceeds from the sale are higher than expected. This will be considered when determining the size of the share capital increase to finance the proposed acquisition of Monsanto."

The share placement took place on Thursday evening after market close and was aimed exclusively at institutional investors. BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan acted as joint bookrunners.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2017, the Group employed around 99,800 people and had sales of 35.0 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.4 billion euros, R&D expenses to 4.5 billion euros.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Polymers Business unit of Total S.A. (Total) and Polystyvert, a Montreal-based clean technology startup with an innovative method for polystyrene recycling, today announced the signing of an agreement to work together on the dissolution and purification of household post-consumer polystyrene, as per the company's press release.

The combination of Polystyvert’s innovative technology and Total’s know-how in industrial-scale dissolution and polymerization technologies should generate high-quality recyclates addressing a broad range of polystyrene market requirements.

Polystyvert has developed an innovative low-carbon-footprint method for recycling polystyrene that is based on a dissolution process. This process produces recyclates which can be used in a broader range of market applications than recyclates produced through mechanical recycling methods. Household post-consumer plastics such as polystyrene often contain contaminants that make mechanical recycling difficult or not practical.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with Polystyvert on this ambitious and exciting journey," said Jean Viallefont, VP Polymers Europe, Total Refining & Chemicals. “In 2017, Total performed three successful test runs with post-consumer recyclates incorporated in virgin polymer via dissolution and polymerization. Working with Polystyvert to tackle household post-consumer waste is the next logical step for Total."

"’We are excited to join forces with Total on the recycling of polystyrene," stated Solenne Brouard, Founder and CEO, Polystyvert Inc. “Collaborating with Total on household waste will accelerate the industrial development of our technology for global markets and demonstrate its suitability to address any type of polystyrene stream."
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