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Agriculture · Earnings · Litigation · Pharmaceuticals
Bayer AG reported a significantly wider net loss of 3.76 billion euros in the fourth quarter, a sharp increase from 335 million euros in the prior-year period, primarily driven by 3.55 billion euros in special items related to ongoing Roundup weedkiller litigation.
CEO Bill Anderson has committed to substantially containing litigation risk by the end of the current year, proposing a nationwide U.S. settlement of up to $7.25 billion, with payments frontloaded to 2026. This legal burden is projected to result in 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion euros in cash outflows this year and elevate net debt to 32-33 billion euros, reversing two years of declines.
Despite these challenges, the company is actively pursuing a turnaround, implementing a restructuring that has reduced its workforce by 4,700 to 88,100 employees. While adjusted EBITDA declined 16% to 1.97 billion euros, it still surpassed analyst expectations of 1.92 billion euros.
Quarterly sales also exceeded forecasts, falling 2.5% to 11.44 billion euros but showing a 2.9% increase when adjusted for portfolio and currency changes. Bayer anticipates broadly stable sales and earnings for 2026, forecasting sales between 45 billion and 47 billion euros and adjusted EBITDA of 9.6 billion to 10.1 billion euros, excluding currency impacts.
