Nov 13 (Reuters) - Agricultural chemicals maker Bayer CropScience (BAYE.NS) , opens new tab, the Indian unit of German drug and pesticide maker Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab posted a near 39% drop in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, hurt by pricing pressure.

The company reported a consolidated profit of 1.36 billion rupees ($16.1 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to 2.23 billion rupees a year earlier.

Revenue from operations rose 7.4% to 1.74 billion rupees, while total expenses rose by 18.4% to 15.71 billion rupees, mainly due to spike in its raw material costs.

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KEY CONTEXT

Bayer CropScience attributed the increase in revenue to higher volumes, but said this was partially offset by lower producer prices in China.

While international agrochemical demand is recovering, with higher sales volume across geographies, ample supplies from China have curbed price increases and hurt domestic companies' margins, analysts have said.

The company also said that its margins were hurt by higher production costs in corn seeds due to adverse weather conditions as well as a higher cost of goods sold in its chemical business.

Peer UPL (UPLL.NS) , opens new tab posted a wider quarterly loss earlier this week hurt by pricing pressures.

PEER COMPARISON

* Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell ** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JULY-SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 84.3600 rupees

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indias-bayer-cropscience-q2-profit-falls-pricing-pressure-2024-11-13/