3/24/01 - (WhatTheyThink) Agfa said yesterday that figures for the first two months of 2001 are lagging compared to the same period last year. According to the company “The general economic slowdown is affecting sales, especially in Consumer Imaging. In Graphic Systems, sales decreased to a lesser extent, reflecting some weakness in the overall printing market, while Technical Imaging continued to show strong growth.” As reported by WhatTheyThink last week, Agfa is negotiating the sale of their Consumer Imaging business. Consumer Imaging brought in 30% of the company’s revenue in 2000. Agfa said they should still reach their target of 2% - 3% in revenue growth. Bayer said they will look to divest of their interest in Agfa. Bayer said that “partial ownership interest is no longer of strategic importance for the pharmaceuticals and chemicals concern, instead it has been solely a financial investment following the divestiture of the majority interest in the company in 1999.” Bayer holds 30 percent of Agfa-Gevaert´s share capital. Twenty-five percent of the share capital is owned by the Belgian Gevaert Group, the rest is broadly held. Bayer plans for this transaction to be executed in the near future.