By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Bayer on Tuesday posted a slower decline in first-quarter adjusted earnings than the market had feared as strong prescription numbers for new drugs offset a drop in its soy and cotton seed business.
Quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-off items, fell 7.4% to 4.09 billion euros ($4.54 billion), beating a consensus of 3.75 billion euros posted on the company’s website.
The group, which is grappling with costly U.S. product liability litigation over its weed killer Roundup, said on Wednesday it had cut 2,000 full-time positions in the first quarter, on top of 7,000 jobs slashed last year.
CEO Bill Anderson has faced investor pressure to deliver on restructuring efforts and to reverse what is projected to be the third consecutive annual drop in operating income in 2025.
He is cutting managerial jobs, speeding up decision-making and slashing red tape, and has secured shareholder approval to raise fresh equity if needed to settle litigation.
Bayer on Tuesday also confirmed its currency-adjusted earnings outlook for 2025.
This year’s special items, however, would be at the upper end of the previous outlook range, or about minus 1.5 billion euros ($1.67 billion), given higher legal risks and severance pay for staff, it added.
For its pharmaceuticals division, the German group projected currency-adjusted sales growth and the EBITDA margin before special items to come in at the upper end of its previous target range.
($1 = 0.9003 euros)
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Kirsten Donovan)
