The German chemicals group Bayer on Tuesday reported a significant net loss in the second quarter, weighed down by the agreement signed in June in the United States to settle the procedures against glyphosate, and by the Covid-19 pandemic, which l 'led to lowering its forecasts for 2020.
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Bayer reports a significant net loss of 9.5 billion euros in the second quarter of 2020, against a profit of 404 million euros in the same period in 2019. This sharp drop is notably the result of " the effect exceptional "caused by" the major agreement reached within the framework of the proceedings against Monsanto ", indicates the group in a press release.
The company has resolved to sign an agreement in June between 8.8 and 9.6 billion dollars to settle more than 125,000 claims in the United States against Round'up, a glyphosate-based pesticide marketed by its subsidiary Monsanto , bought in 2018. The American plaintiffs accused this pesticide, suspected of being carcinogenic by the Circ, a branch of the WHO, to have caused the disease from which they suffer.
Decreased 2020 targets
The Leverkussen group was also largely affected by the pandemic, which plagued its activities in the second quarter, after having had a positive effect in the first quarter. Bayer saw a decrease in its adjusted revenue of 2.5% to 10.7 billion euros. The pharmaceutical division, with an operating loss (EBITDA) of 7.1%, was particularly affected. " The contact restriction measures introduced all over the world because of the coronavirus pandemic, have led to the [...] postponement of many treatments ", comments the group to explain this decline. The agrochemicals division, the engine of the group's growth in recent quarters, nevertheless reports an increase in its turnover corrected for currency and market effects of 3.2%.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led the group to revise its 2020 objectives downwards: Bayer now forecasts a turnover " between 43 and 44 billion ", while it expected " between 44 and 45 billion " previously, in February latest.
