Scroll Top

Bayer Reassures Investors on Monsanto, Vows to Back Roundup

Published by Bloomberg News

By Tim Loh

November 13, 2018, 1:46 AM EST Updated on November 13, 2018, 6:53 AM EST

 

Bayer AG vowed to defend its embattled weedkiller Roundup, moving to reassure investors that its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto Co. will boost the company’s bottom line. The shares rose as much as 2.7 percent in early Frankfurt trading after the company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 2.2 billion euros ($2.47 billion), which beat analysts’ estimates.

Bayer repeated that profit and sales will grow this year, even as its consumer health and animal businesses struggle. Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann defended Roundup’s key ingredient glyphosate after a judge last month upheld a jury’s verdict that it contributed to a dying groundskeeper’s cancer, saying its safety is backed by more than 800 scientific studies.

“We’ve decided to defend ourselves by every means available, because glyphosate is a fully safe and good product when properly used,” Baumann said on a conference call with reporters.

The number of Roundup plaintiffs has increased to about 9,300, according to the Leverkusen, Germany-based company. Uncertainty over the liability has hurt the stock price.

Sales at Bayer’s crop science division increased 84 percent last quarter, boosted by the addition of Monsanto. The new lines of business picked up in the takeover performed much better than other parts of Bayer’s agriculture unit, Gunther Zechmann, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a note to clients.

While Bayer expects to meet its full-year earnings forecasts overall, the consumer health and animal health units may fall short of their own targets, the company said. The singling out of those divisions doesn’t indicate anything about the company’s future plans for them, Baumann said.

 

FREE Consultation | Farmers & Growers With Crop Or Plant Damage

Dicamba Drift Lawyers at Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane and Arkansas attorneys Michael Smith and Paul James are fighting on behalf of farmers and landowners to seek maximum compensation for the damages suffered due to Dicamba. If you suspect that your crops or plants have been damaged by dicamba, contact Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane by filling out a Contact Form or by calling 314-833-4826 for a FREE Consultation.

Also, you can reach Paul Lesko directly at 314-833-4826 or at [email protected].

 

About Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane, APLC

Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane is a nationwide litigation law firm that represents individuals and entities that have been the victims of negligence, fraud or the misconduct of powerful interests. We are smart, experienced, and dedicated professionals who work tirelessly for our clients and take pride in the pursuit of justice on their behalf. Too often the powerful interests in our society run over the rights of ordinary people. We do our best to restore that balance.