FRANKFURT, Feb 20 Reuters Bayer AG39;s shares slid in volatile trading on Tuesday after the drugmaker said it would slash its dividend over the next three years to reduce its debt.

Bayer said late on Monday it would propose a dividend of 0.11 euro 0.12 for 2023, part of a threeyear policy to pay out the legal minimum. That compares with 2.40 euros a year earlier, and expectations of a dividend of 1.92 euros, according to a consensus published on its website.

Analysts at Jefferies said the move highlights the extent of the challenges both operational and financial facing the business and that further major strategic actions are required to restore the balance sheet at Bayer.

The stock was down 0.9 at 0824 GMT after gaining as much as 1 earlier in the session.

Barclays analyst Emily Field said the move indicated that Bayer39;s management was receptive to investor concerns about its stressed balance sheet, adding that investors were seeking clarity on more structural measures to be announced at Bayer39;s capital markets day scheduled for March 5.

One of our top priorities is reducing debt and increasing flexibility, Bayer Chief Executive Bill Anderson said. Our amended dividend policy, which considered investor input and was not taken lightly, will help us do so.

Anderson has had a tumultuous start since taking the helm in June last year, as a wave of U.S. litigation about an alleged cancercausing effect of Bayer39;s main weedkiller shows no sign of abating, even as…