FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX Broker) - Bayer shares, which had a good start to the new year, suffered a setback on Tuesday. The papers of the Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical and agrochemical group suffered from a profit outlook that was received with disappointment and lost almost four percent to 56.28 euros by late morning. This made it by far the weakest stock on the Dax. The German benchmark index fell only slightly.

Bayer prepared investors for less buoyant business. Growth is expected to slow in 2023. The strong tailwind from exceptionally high prices for the crop protection agent glyphosate continues to weaken. Added to this are higher costs and price pressure for some medicines.

Bayer is calculating sales of EUR 51 to 52 billion for the current year after adjusting for the effects of exchange rate movements and thus on the basis of average monthly exchange rates in 2022. Adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) on this basis is expected to reach EUR 12.5 to 13.0 billion.

Analyst Charlie Bentley of investment house Jefferies described the forecasts for 2023 as mixed. Although the sales outlook is slightly above the median market expectation, the Ebitda target is slightly below. Expert Michael Leuchten of UBS, a major Swiss bank, added that the company's core earnings-per-share outlook range also disappointed.

Analyst Richard Vosser of U.S. bank JPMorgan wrote that while Bayer's full-year figures were positive overall. But the market is likely to focus mainly on the cuts to average analysts' estimates due after the outlook.

Bayer's shares had started the new year with a lot of momentum and climbed to almost 66 euros at the beginning of February. At that time, the announcement of the entry of activist investors had fueled the imagination of investors. Speculation has been circulating for weeks about the Group structure under future Bayer CEO Bill Anderson, who will take over the helm from Werner Baumann at the beginning of June.

Despite Tuesday's slide, Bayer shares are still up 16.5 percent since the beginning of the year. The Dax has risen by a good 10 percent in this period.

From a chart perspective, however, the picture has clouded over. Bayer shares slipped well below the 21-day average line, which describes the short-term trend. In addition, the support around EUR 58, which had held since mid-February, fell.

The 50- and 200-day lines now serve as new support. These are a measure of the medium and long-term trend and run at 55.37 euros and 55.00 euros./la/mis/jha/

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