Bayer hikes 2026 profit outlook as pharma unit beats expectations

By Tristan Veyet and Patricia Weiss

Nov 3 (Reuters) – German pharmaceuticals and agriculture group Bayer on Tuesday raised its 2026 profit outlook, citing a better-than-anticipated performance at the company’s pharmaceuticals business.

Bayer’s stock was up 2% in early Frankfurt trade.

Bayer has been weighed down by heavy debt since its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018, a deal that also burdened the group with costly Roundup litigation.

The company now expects adjusted core earnings, on a currency-adjusted basis, to reach between €9.8 billion and €10.3 billion ($11 billion and 11.5 billion), from a previously expected range of €9.6 billion and €10.1 billion.

Bayer’s pharmaceuticals business posted sales of €4.68 billion in the third quarter, 5% above analysts expectations in a poll by Vara Research.

“We’ve reached a turning point in Pharma’s growth trajectory and we’re beginning to see the other side”, Chief Executive Bill Anderson said in a statement.

Core earnings-wise, the company achieved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for one-offs, of €1.62 billion, around 13% ahead of analysts’ expectations.

Equally, the company cut net financial debt expectations for the year by €1 billion, now expecting it between €28 billion and €29 billion.

The company’s crop science division, which sells seeds and crop-protection chemicals, achieved adjusted core earnings of €101 million, whereas analysts expected it at €164 million.

Higher selling expenses as well as worse sales in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions hindered the division.

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt, editing by Linda Pasquini and Louise Heavens)

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