Bayer’s profit increases 75%

FRANKFURT, Germany — German drug and chemicals company Bayer AG says profit rose 75 percent in the second quarter thanks to lower one-time charges and strong sales of new products including anti-clotting drug Xarelto and cancer drug Stivarga.

But falling earnings at its high-tech materials division led the company to say it would be harder to achieve its earnings goals for the year.

Net profit came in at 841 million euros ($1.1 billion), up from 481 million euros a year ago when the company had 611 million euros in one-time charges, mostly for U.S. lawsuits over its birth-control pill. Revenues rose 1.9 percent to 10.36 billion euros.

The company, which is based in Leverkusen, Germany, said Wednesday that it also saw increased sales in its pharmaceuticals division thanks to better-than-expected performance from its new products. Top performers were Xarelto, which is used to prevent dangerous blood clots in people having hip or knee replacement; Eylea, which treats the aging-related eye disease macular degeneration; and cancer drug Stivarga. Pharmaceutical sales rose 5.5 percent to 2.83 billion euros.

The company’s farm business saw operating earnings, which exclude some financial items, rise 14 percent thanks to continuing high prices for agricultural commodities. The division makes seeds as well as compounds used to kill weeds, bugs and fungi.

However, Bayer recorded lower earnings at its materials business due to lower demand and prices in Asia and Europe. Operating earnings for the division, which makes things like high-tech polycarbonate plastics, fell 28.5 percent.