14 September 2021, Mumbai: Bayer CropScience Limited (BSE: 506285) announced today its unaudited results for the first quarter (Q1) of Financial Year (FY) 2021-22. For Q1 ended June 30, 2021, the Company registered Revenue from Operations of ₹14,159 million, compared to ₹12,278 million in the corresponding period of FY 2020-21. Profit Before Tax and Exceptional Items for the quarter stood at ₹3,200 million, compared to ₹3,138 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
Commenting on the quarterly results, D. Narain, CEO & Managing Director of Bayer CropScience Limited, said,“In an environment that saw continued Covid related challenges around market access, farmer liquidity, production & logistics, our Q1 sales continued its double-digit growth in FY 2021-22, building on a similar growth trajectory from Q1 of FY 2020-21. This was driven by strong crop protection sales and product liquidation, continuing the trend from previous quarters. Our hybrid corn seed supplies were affected by delayed availability of some key hybrids due to late harvesting and crop acre shifts. Despite this, we delivered Q1 of FY 2021-22 volumes at par with Q1 of FY 2020-21, which had also seen a strong double-digit growth compared to Q1 of FY 2019-20.”
Elaborating further on overall profitability for the quarter, D. Narain stated, “Our hybrid seeds distribution business especially in cotton and rice was significantly impacted due to overall market conditions and supply constraints. Despite this, we registered a strong growth in gross profit mainly driven by our crop protection business. The continuing Covid environment diluted our overall profitability growth due to higher logistic costs, higher costs of corn seed production and a return to near-normal operating cost levels in Q1 of FY 2021-22, compared to Q1 of FY 2020-21 where field activities had to be abruptly halted due to Covid restrictions.”
In Q1 of FY 2021-22, Bayer CropScience Limited continued to scale-up its smallholder initiative ‘Better Life Farming’ to 9 states in India with 600+ Better Life Farming Centers, despite several Covid challenges. The Company’s strategic efforts to acquire new farmer customers via expansion of new business models, including the Better Life Farming Centers and broader portfolio access continued to see strong growth momentum in line with its long-term growth strategy.
Sharing an outlook for the future, D. Narain, said, “With Covid-19, the external business environment remains uncertain in the short term. However, with increasing emphasis on good health and nutrition, the agriculture industry is poised for strong growth. Bayer CropScience Limited will continue to support Indian smallholders with access to innovative seeds & crop protection inputs, crop advisory and capacity building on the use of modern agronomic practices. In order to widen the reach of our agri-solutions, we will continue to expand value chain collaborations, e-commerce partnerships, support scale-up of farmer collectives and introduce tailored digital farming solutions.”
