Bayer AG chief executive Werner Baumann said he would consider a "financially reasonable" settlement of litigation over the weedkiller Roundup as the caseload swells and the company's shares slump.
The number of lawsuits from people in the U.S. who say the herbicide caused them to develop cancer has risen by about 5,000, to 18,400, Bayer said in a statement. The company on Tuesday also revealed more troubles at its crop-science division after bad weather curbed demand from farmers.
Quarterly sales and earnings missed estimates, and the company questioned its ability to meet its full-year forecast. Shares fell about 4% in Frankfurt.
Baumann has staked his credibility on last year's $63 billion takeover of Monsanto Co., saying the company is better off balancing its portfolio between agriculture and health care. But the surge in U.S. lawsuits alleging that Roundup -- which Bayer inherited from Monsanto -- causes cancer suggests that settling the claims will become more expensive than previously thought, heaping more pressure on Baumann three months after he received a rebuke from shareholders.
"The jump in lawsuits is worrying," said Mustaq Rahaman, a credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "This set of results will do little to stem calls for more dramatic action including a split."
Baumann said on a conference call that he is open to a settlement as long as it resolves all Roundup litigation. He repeated that the herbicide is safe, that the cases have no merit and that the company is "constructively engaging" with court-appointed mediator Ken Feinberg.
After the call, Bayer declined to say how much a "financially reasonable" sum would be or whether Baumann was referring only to the current load of cancer cases or the possibility of future Roundup suits tied to other ailments.
Bayer's definition of a reasonable settlement amount for all the Roundup cases isn't likely to match up with estimates from lawyers for users of the weedkiller, said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond's law school who teaches about mass-tort litigation. "They aren't going to like the numbers the plaintiffs are going to demand," Tobias said. "Maybe Ken Feinberg can work something out."
Bayer's legal woes at the agricultural unit are being compounded by bad weather. Significant flooding has delayed planting season for farmers in North America.
In addition, trade tensions with China have hurt U.S. farmers' ability to export soybeans, curbing demand for Bayer's products. Just as Bayer reported earnings, President Donald Trump lashed out at China for what he said is an unwillingness to buy American agricultural products.
Bayer's pesticide sales struggled in Europe, too, because of unusually dry weather. Revenue at the crop-science unit fell 3.1% after adjusting for currency and portfolio effects associated with the Monsanto takeover, Bayer said.
The Leverkusen, Germany, company reiterated its annual financial forecast and its plan to defend itself in the Roundup litigation, while saying it will "constructively engage" in the mediation process ordered by a California judge. The company has aimed for about $51 billion in revenue and profit of about $7.60 a share for this year.
Bayer's other challenges include selling off its animal-health division, rekindling growth at its ailing consumer-health division and coming up with promising new medicines for its pharmaceutical unit, where top-selling treatments Xarelto and Eylea both face the loss of patent protection in the coming years.
Bayer's shares have plunged about 40% in the past 12 months after concern over the legal claims about Roundup and its main ingredient, glyphosate. Activist shareholder Elliott Management Corp., which last month unveiled a $1.3 billion stake in Bayer, has said the company could unlock $33 billion in shareholder value with a settlement.
Still, some analysts say the company is right to spread its focus among different businesses to help manage the ebbs and flows of each unit.
"If Bayer just had the pharma business, the stock would be super risky because the pharma business has some medium to long-term concerns," said Dennis Berzhanin of Pareto Securities. "Yes, they're having short-term problems right now with crop science, but it reduces the risk of the company in general and supports their growth going forward."
Information for this article was contributed by Jef Feeley of Bloomberg News.
Business on 07/31/2019