Bayer profit up 21% thanks to currency effects

German pharmaceutical group Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) Wednesday reported a 21% rise in net profit for the second quarter of 2015, boosted by favorable currency effects.

Net profit for the period ended June 30 was 1.15 billion euros ($1.27 billion), compared with EUR953 million in the same period last year, in line with analysts' expectations. Analysts had forecast a net profit of EUR1.15 billion, according to a recent poll by The Wall Street Journal.

Group sales rose by 18.2%, to EUR12.09 billion, compared with EUR10.22 billion last year, driven by high sales for the company's recently launched pharmaceutical products, including blood thinner Xarelto.

Bayer's closely-watched earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before special items climbed by 33.2% to EUR2.9 billion, compared with EUR2.18 billion a year earlier.

Bayer revised its 2014 figures slightly, with the exception of net profit and earnings per share, because its diabetes care unit is now classified as a "discontinued business." In June, the company announced plans to sell the unit for EUR1 billion to Japan-based Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd.

The company adjusted its guidance for 2015 as a result of the change in exchange rates, as of June 30, and the discontinued diabetes unit. Bayer now expects sales of around EUR47 billion for the full-year. It had previously forecast total annual sales of EUR48 billion to EUR49 billion. The group reiterated that it expects Ebitda before special items for 2015 to increase by a high-teen percentage point.