German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer on Thursday reported a small drop in net profit for 2012. The Leverkusen-based firm said bottom-line earnings totaled 2.45 billion euros ($3.2 billion), marking a 1-percent dip from levels reached a year earlier.

Bayer said earnings last year were hit by one-off items of 1.7 billion euros, including over one billion euros in litigation expenses over its contraceptive pill Yasmin which had been found to increase the risk of blood clots.

Adjusted for those negative litigation-related effects, the pharmaceuticals firm's earnings before interest and tax rose by 8.8 percent last year, seeing executives pleased with the results.

Plant protection chemicals

"2012 was a very successful year for the Bayer Group," Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers said in a statement. "All divisions posted gains in sales and earnings," he added, pointing out that full-year revenues climbed by almost 9 percent.

For the current year, Bayer said it had penciled in sales growth of between 4 and 5 percent to around 41 billion euros.

The company, which is marking its 150th anniversary this year, stated its business in the agrochemical sector was particularly brisk, with sales experiencing a boost particularly in emerging countries, helping Bayer to compete with rivals Dow Chemical and BASF.

hg/kms  (AFP, Reuters)