Decrease pesticide costs put strain on Bayer’s earnings

The German chemical firm Bayer has change into considerably extra gloomy about revenue growth as a result of the costs of its herbicides based mostly on the controversial glyphosate are falling. Increased prices additionally weigh on earnings.

The group beforehand forecast earnings per share for this yr of between EUR 7.20 and EUR 7.40. Bayer now expects this to be on the decrease finish of the bandwidth.

Bayer’s pesticides, such because the well-known Roundup, have saddled the group with main picture issues lately.

In the US, every kind of lawsuits are pending towards the corporate for its dangerous merchandise. For instance, the state of Oregon accuses Monsanto, an organization that merged with Bayer, of contamination with so-called PCBs. These are very carcinogenic chemical compounds which have hardly been used for the reason that Nineteen Sixties.

Final yr, Bayer was capable of profit from larger costs for pesticides. Issues in transport, excessive climate circumstances and labor shortages had led to shortage of weed killers and pesticides within the US, driving up costs.