German pharmaceutical and biotechnology group Bayer said today it had set aside an additional €1.2 billion in provisions to address ongoing litigation in the US over weed killer Roundup.
The German group said that, on a currency-adjusted basis, it now anticipates annual sales of €46 billion to €48 billion, an increase of €1 billion at both ends from its prior forecast.
Bayer, which is grappling with costly US product liability litigation, has already paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on glyphosate, causes cancer.
Plaintiffs have said they developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other forms of cancer due to using Roundup, either at home or on the job. The company has since replaced glyphosate in US consumer products with different weed-killing substances.
Bayer yesterday announced a significant settlement with a plaintiffs’ law firm, reducing unresolved glyphosate claims to 61,000. Of the total 192,000 claims, 131,000 have been settled or deemed ineligible, Bayer said.
Bayer forecast 2025 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-off items, to range between €9.7 billion and €10.2 billion.
The group also reported preliminary second-quarter sales of about €10.7 billion and group EBITDA before special items of about €2.1 billion.
Bayer will report its April-June earnings on August 6.
