Bayer's agriculture unit, consumer health drive outlook hike - Reuters

The logo of Bayer AG is pictured on the facade of the historical headquarters of the German pharmaceutical and chemical maker in Leverkusen, Germany, April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
FRANKFURT, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer (BAYGn.DE) on Thursday lifted its 2022 earnings guidance on strong demand from farmers for its seeds and crop chemicals and higher sales of consumer health products.
Bayer is now targeting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for special items, of about 13 billion euros ($13.21 billion), based on June 30 foreign exchange rates, where it had previously predicted about 12 billion euros, it said in a statement.
Bayer, which has been hit by litigation costs over claims that a weedkiller it acquired under its Monsanto takeover causes cancer, said that second-quarter adjusted EBITDA jumped 30% to 3.35 billion euros, above an average analyst estimate of 3.28 billion euros posted on the company's website.
Prices of agricultural commodities, such as corn and soy have surged globally after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted farming and grain transport there, prompting farmers elsewhere to use more chemicals and seeds to boost output.
The crop science division, which generated the bulk of Bayer's earnings during the first half of the year, saw adjusted EBITDA surge by more than 70% to 1.75 billion euros in the second quarter, beating a market consensus of 1.56 billion euros.
By contrast, a litigation settlement and write-downs resulted in a net loss of almost 300 million euros for the quarter, where analysts had projected a net profit of about 1.5 billion, hit by special charges of 2.1 billion euros.
That included 694 million euros set aside for an expected settlement with the State of Oregon over waste water contaminated with PCB, a chemical Monsanto produced up until 1977.
Other charges included restructuring measures and write-downs on certain assets due to a strong rise in interest rates.
($1 = 0.9842 euros)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration plans to declare the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as soon as Thursday, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified sources.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved

source https://4awesome.streamstorecloud.com/bayers-agriculture-unit-consumer-health-drive-outlook-hike-reuters/?feed_id=5580&_unique_id=6345176bd1498