BAYRY Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (PK)

--Bayer is the biggest gainer on the DAX after 1Q earnings beat expectations

--Net profit dropped but adjusted Ebitda jumped almost 45%

--The number of plaintiffs in Monsanto-related cases rose 20% to 13,400

 
   By Nathan Allen 
 

Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) was the biggest gainer on Germany's DAX index Thursday morning after the chemical-and-pharmaceutical group's first-quarter results beat expectations.

Net profit dropped to 1.24 billion euros ($1.39 billion) from EUR1.95 billion a year earlier due to a series of one-off charges. However, Bayer's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, jumped nearly 45%, beating consensus estimates by 4%.

Sales rose to EUR13.02 billion from EUR9.14 billion, the company said, around 2% higher than analysts had forecast.

At 0750 GMT shares were trading 4% higher at EUR62.65, but the stock is down more than 35% over the last 12 months over fears about the extent of Monsanto-related liabilities.

Analysts at Bernstein said the results were just what Bayer needed and pointed to the company's pharmaceutical and crop-science divisions as the main drivers behind the gains.

Still, Bayer said the number of plaintiffs that have filed lawsuits relating to glyphosate-based products--inherited through the Monsanto acquisition--rose to 13,400 from around 11,200 in February.

Citi analyst Peter Verdult said the results were helpful but aren't likely to distract investors from the glyphosate litigation, and that shares will continue to trade at a steep discount to the company's valuation until the legal risks are resolved.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2019 04:07 ET (08:07 GMT)

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