Bayer beats Q3 profit forecast on strong herbicide sales

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer (OTC:) on Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings as surging demand for its herbicides made up for a decline in sales of its stroke prevention pill Xarelto.

The German company said in a statement third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 17.3% to 2.45 billion euros ($2.45 billion), above analysts’ average estimate of 2.31 billion euros posted on the company’s website.

Bayer, which has been hit by litigation costs over claims a weedkiller it acquired in its takeover of Monsanto (NYSE:) causes cancer, said its full-year outlook issued in August was still valid.

It said at that time it was targeting adjusted EBITDA of about 13 billion euros, based on June 30 foreign exchange rates, up from 11.2 billion in 2021.

The crop science division saw adjusted EBITDA gain 33.5% to 629 million euros, beating a market consensus of 589 million euros, as a strong herbicides business more than offset weaker corn and soy seed sales.

Its best-selling drug Xarelto saw sales decline 6.2% to 1.11 billion euros in the quarter, slightly below market estimates, on lower prices and volumes in China as well as loss of patent protection in Brazil.

Revenues from anti-blindness treatment Eylea rose 6.3% to 811 million euros, gaining prescriptions in Europe and China, but also came in slightly below expectations.

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