The plastics unit of German drugmaker Bayer could see higher returns on its capital in the medium term, making it an "essential part of" the diversified group, its chief executive told the Financial Times.

"My feeling is that in the next one to two years the returns on investment will hopefully get better again," Marijn Dekkers said in an interview with the newspaper published on Monday.

The markets targeted by plastics unit Bayer MaterialScience have previously been "a little less" financially attractive than those targeted by Bayer's healthcare and crop protection units, he said.

"Material science, just like crop science and healthcare, is an essential part of our diversified business model," the CEO was quoted as saying.