Bayer third-quarter adjusted profit gains slightly on strong crop chemicals
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's largest drugmaker Bayer said underlying core earnings advanced by 1.4 percent, slightly surpassing expectations, on strong sales at its pesticides unit.
Bayer said on Thursday third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at 2.01 billion euros (1.58 billion pounds), edging past the average estimate of 1.96 billion euros in a Reuters poll.
Adjusted core earnings at the CropScience unit rose more than a quarter to 278 million euros, shored up by growth in recently launched products, in particular fungicides and herbicides.
Bayer now aims to raise group EBITDA before special items by a mid-single-digit percentage, taking into account the acquisition of Merck & Co. Inc.'s consumer health business it wrapped up on Oct. 1 as well as more favourable currency effects.
It had previously forecast a low- to mid-single-digit percentage gain.
The stock has advanced 8.2 percent over the past three months, outperforming the STOXX Europe 600 Health Care <.SXDP> index's 2.6 percent increase, as investors welcomed the company's plan to split off and separately list its plastics division.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Kirsti Knolle)
