Bayer AG on Tuesday vowed to defend its Roundup weed-killer as investors worried about the health of the German company's agricultural business.
Bayer said profit and sales will grow this year, even as its consumer health and animal businesses struggle. Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann defended the herbicide's key ingredient, glyphosate, after a judge last month upheld a jury's verdict that it contributed to a dying groundskeeper's cancer.
Baumann said the ingredient's safety is backed by more than 800 scientific studies.
"We've decided to defend ourselves by every means available because glyphosate is a fully safe and good product when properly used," Baumann said.
The number of Roundup plaintiffs has increased to about 9,300, according to the Leverkusen, Germany-based company. That's about 600 more than the company previously disclosed. Uncertainty over the company's liability has hurt its stock price.
Business on 11/14/2018