Germany's Bayer said today it expected higher one-off costs this year from litigation provisions, after recent setbacks in product liability cases, and for buying out executives in its ongoing restructuring programme.
The maker of drugs, seeds and crop chemicals said it now expects special items to reduce earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by between £3.5 billion and £4 billion. This compared with a previous range of £2.5 billion to £3.5 billion.
Excluding one-off items and currency swings, Bayer confirmed its 2025 EBITDA forecast of between £9.7 billion and £10.2 billion, compared to £10.1 billion last year.
Finance chief Wolfgang Nickl said that in 2026, significant currency headwinds would continue, while the agricultural market was shaping up to be "quite dynamic".
Bayer said the adverse financial impact from litigation was €934m during the June to September period.
Last month, the Missouri Supreme Court declined to take up Bayer's appeal of a $611m verdict over claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
Bayer CEO Bill Anderson has said his goal is to make meaningful progress on glyphosate cases by the end of 2026.
Also last month, a US court reinstated an unfavourable $185m verdict over contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, at a Washington state school.
Bayer also said today that it had cut about 13,500 full-time positions - resulting in global staffing of about 88,500 - since the start of cutbacks to speed up decision-making and to reduce managerial and administrative positions.
That is up from a job cut tally of 12,000 in August.
Bayer said overall third-quarter adjusted EBITDA rose 20.8%, to a better-than-expected €1.51 billion, citing gains in its Crop Science division and accounting reconciliation effects.
Reconciliation included lower expenses for personnel-related adjustments, it said.
