Bayer AG said Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings surged, buoyed by strong growth in its health care business, and the drug and chemical maker forecast that annual group sales would rise at least 5 percent as it benefits from the acquisition of rival Schering AG.

The company said it earned 311 million euros ($410 million) in the October-December period, compared with 46 million euros a year earlier, beating the 62 million euros ($81.73 million) that analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted.

Sales during the fourth quarter rose 25 percent to 7.97 billion euros ($10.51 billion) from 6.37 billion euros in 2005.

Bayer shares rose 3.25 percent to close at 44.13 euros ($58.18) in Frankfurt.

For the year, the company earned 1.68 billion euros ($2.21 billion) compared with 1.6 billion euros in 2005, which reflected its 17 billion euros ($22.41 billion) acquisition of Schering AG and the sale of its diagnostics unit. The figure was more than the 1.39 billion euros ($1.83 billion) expected by analysts.

The Leverkusen-based company said it had exceptional charges last year of 717 million euros ($945.2 million), with 273 million euros ($359.9 million) related to the Schering acquisition and 200 million euros ($263.7 million) for restructuring costs.

Sales rose to 28.96 billion euros ($38.18 billion) from 24.7 billion euros in 2005.

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