Bayer beats estimates but lawsuits remain the fly in the ointment

German life sciences group Bayer (BAYN: DE) was up more than 2% as Wednesday’s trading day neared its end, after the company presented its third-quarter financial results.

The results beat analyst expectations and showed healthy growth across the group’s divisions, but a doubling in the number of plaintiffs making claims against Bayer over the alleged link between its Roundup pesticide and cancer, has added to the sense of unease over the issue.

Overall, Bayer’s sales for the third quarter were 9.83 billion euros ($10.92 billion), up 6.1% on the same period in 2018, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 7.5% to 2.29 billion euros.