Bayer Q1 profit beats estimates on pesticides sales

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Quarterly earnings at Germany’s largest drugmaker Bayer surpassed expectations as strong sales of farming pesticides offset margin pressure at its engineering plastics unit. First-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the group rose 9.4 percent to 2.44 billion euros ($3.22 billion), above the average estimate of 2.23 billion in a Reuters poll. The shares were indicated about 3 percent higher in the pre-market trades, outperforming a flat benchmark index DAX. …