Bayer Move In Tune With Its Aggressive Plans

In the last one year, it has signed a series of joint ventures, divested businesses to achieve focus and plans to invest heavily in new high-growth ventures.

It has got full backing the of its German parent, Bayer AG, which has earmarked Rs 400 crore for investment in India during the next couple of years.

The areas it is looking at include silicon polymers, synthetic rubber, engineering plastics and polyurethane. Most of them are high growth areas and used in industries like white goods and automobiles, which are themselves growing at a fast clip.

The company has seven main divisions, consumer care, plastics, chemicals, animal health, rubber, agrochemicals and health care. Of this, agrochemicals constitute nearly 55 per cent of its sales, followed by rubber chemicals, with 28.7 per cent, health care with 12.4 per cent.

 

In 1994-95, the company launched a voluntary retirement scheme which cut workforce and costs. It also spun off its textile dyestuffs and diagnostics business. While textile dyestuffs division has joined hands with Colour-Chem to form Dystar as per the global agreement with Hoechst, diagnostics has been formed into a new company, Bayer Diagnostics Ltd.

The company posted Rs 292.2 crore turnover for April-December 1995 and a net profit of Rs 3 crore.

Financially, it is still small but it is hoping that expansion in high-growth areas and investment in core businesses will lead to faster growth rates.

In the last two years, the company signed an MoU with Herdillia Chemicals to make and market heat transfer fluids.