Bayer Cropscience on Monday reported a 31.38 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 154.1 crore for the quarter ended September. The company's net profit during the corresponding period of 2020-21 stood at Rs 224.6 crore, Bayer Cropscience said in a statement.
Revenue from operations declined by 1.19 per cent to Rs 1,365.1 crore, compared to Rs 1,381.6 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. ''Our second quarter revenue declined by 1 per cent compared to last year. Overall profitability was impacted by a challenging season for our corn seeds portfolio and pressure on margins in our Crop Protection business.
''The Kharif corn season witnessed a drop in acreages owing to lower relative profitability of corn for the grower versus other crops, as well as some weather-related events leading to higher seeds returns in the second quarter,'' Bayer CropScience CEO and Managing Director D Narain said.
Crop Protection business was impacted by higher material and logistics costs and product mix, partially offset by product price increases, he said. ''We will continue to focus our investments on capacity building programs for smallholder farmers in India, especially through the continuing expansion of the Better Life Farming program and new business models such as eCommerce and Food Chain Partnerships.
''With drones now being available for agriculture, we look forward to accelerating innovations that foster precision farming, resource efficiencies and sustainability,'' Narain added. The company's shares on Monday closed at Rs 5,020, up 0.60 per cent on BSE.
(With inputs from PTI)
