Bayer 1Q 2019 Profit Fell on Restructuring, Acquisition Costs

   By Nathan Allen 
 

Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings dropped nearly 37% due to previously flagged costs relating to its restructuring and its acquisition of Monsanto.

The German chemical-and-pharmaceutical company said profit fell to 1.24 billion euros ($1.39 billion) from EUR1.95 billion a year earlier.

Sales rose to EUR13.02 billion from EUR9.14 billion, the company said.

Analysts had forecast net profit of EUR1.38 billion on sales of EUR12.54 billion, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus.

The company booked costs of EUR492 million from the integration of Monsanto and EUR393 million from restructuring.

Bayer said it faces lawsuits from around 13,400 plaintiffs in cases relating to the glyphosate weedkiller products it inherited through the acquisition of Monsanto, up from around 11,200 in February.

On Wednesday, Bayer urged the California Appeals Court to reverse the $78.5 million verdict reached in the first of the cases to go to trial, arguing the jury's verdict and the damages awarded can't be reconciled with the applicable laws or scientific consensus.

Write to Nathan Allen at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

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