The group recorded a net profit of €3.3 billion through the first three months of the year, up from €2.1 billion in the same period in 2021.

The improvement came on the back of stronger sales, with revenues climbing to €14.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022, from €12.3 billion last year.

Top-line progress was driven by Bayer’s agricultural division, where revenues rose by 22% year-on-year to €8.4 billion.

Sales of seeds and pesticides grew by double-digits in all regions “mainly due to price increases” for its products, Bayer said in a statement.

The result was also boosted by a reduction in legal costs related US lawsuits against its Roundup weedkiller.

Bayer has been plagued by legal woes since it bought Roundup producer Monsanto in 2018, with a series of claims by cancer patients who say the glyphosate chemical in the weedkiller caused them to fall ill.

The group had set aside billions of dollars to cover the costs of the lawsuits, while the German firm maintains it has not committed any wrongdoing.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended supply chains for many manufacturers and driven up the cost of energy, Bayer said its first-quarter sales and earnings “were not negatively impacted” by the conflict.

Nonetheless, Bayer left its outlook for the year unchanged “despite the great uncertainties” arising from the war, CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement.

Together the countries represented around 3% of Bayer’s sales, the company said.