BERLIN (Reuters) -Bayer shares rose as much as 5% in early Thursday trading to an eight month high, adding to gains from the day before when the German drugs to pesticides group named former Roche executive Bill Anderson as its next CEO.
The stock jumped 6% late Wednesday, after the appointment was announced about 15 minutes before the market close.
Some investors cashed in their profits on Thursday morning, however. The stock was up 0.5% to 62.82 euros at 0845 GMT.
Anderson’s appointment as CEO from June came after shareholder pressure for an external successor to Werner Baumann, who engineered Bayer’s troubled Monsanto takeover.
Juergen Molnar, capital markt strategist at brokerage RoboMarkets, said the stock had considerable potential for further gains even after the rally.
The shares are up 30% since the start of the year, helping to offset a more than five year downturn related to the takeover of Monsanto. In June 2018, when the acquisition was completed, the shares traded at around 100 euros.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Kirsti Knolle; editing by Rachel More and Mark Potter)
