FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer <BAYGn.DE> eked out a 3.9 percent gain in underlying core earnings for the quarter, as the addition of U.S. seeds maker Monsanto offset weak consumer healthcare sales and unfavourable currency effects.
Second-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and adjusted for one-off items rose to 2.335 billion euros (£2.10 billion), the company reported on Wednesday, slightly below analyst estimates in a Reuters poll for 2.435 billion on average.
Bayer now expects EBITDA before special items to increase by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage in 2018. It had previously forecast a decline by a low-single-digit percentage, at the time excluding the effect of the Monsanto acquisition.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)
