Star Metro - Bayer beats forecasts but weedkiller woes still weigh

The maker of drugs, seeds and crop chemicals said it had increased its provisions for litigation by more than 900 million euros ($1.0 billion) in the July-September quarter.

But the group's operating profit before special items, closely watched by investors, rose sharply to 1.5 billion euros on sales of 9.66 billion euros, with its crop science division putting in a strong performance.

Bayer's shares were up 4.5 percent in Frankfurt after the results were released.

The group has been hit with a flood of legal cases in the United States related to claims that the glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller causes blood cancer, a problem it inherited from its 2018 takeover of US firm Monsanto.

Bayer says scientific studies and regulatory approvals show that the weedkiller is safe but it has had to spend billions of euros in legal battles.

CEO Bill Anderson insisted Wednesday Bayer was making "significant progress" with regard to litigation, adding: "We are confident in our objective to significantly contain the litigation risk by the end of 2026."

He noted however there had been an increase in glyphosate case filings after recent settlements were announced, which added to costs, while stressing the company was confident in its strategy.

As of mid-October, Bayer said it was facing around 65,000 unresolved glyphosate claims, up from a previous figure of about 61,000.

A total of 132,000 claims have so far either been settled or had been deemed not eligible.

In total, Bayer has set aside nearly seven billion euros for the issue.

The group also faced extra costs due to a setback in another legal fight, after a US court ruled against it over chemical contamination at a school.

Since taking the helm in 2023, Anderson has launched a cost-cutting drive as part of efforts to revive the storied company that makes Aspirin.

So far about 13,500 jobs have been axed worldwide, he told journalists after the release of Wednesday's results.

There was no "specific job reduction target", he said, but added: "I would anticipate that the most significant reductions have already happened and that going forward there will be less."

Bayer had around 88,000 staff globally at the end of September.

Anderson has also had to fend off calls from activist investors to split up the sprawling company.

F.Leblanc--SMC