July 31 (Reuters) - German pharmaceutical and

biotechnology group Bayer said on Thursday it had set

aside an additional 1.2 billion euros ($1.37 billion) in

provisions to address ongoing litigation in the United States

over weed killer Roundup.

The German group said that, on a currency-adjusted basis, it

now anticipates annual sales of 46 billion euros to 48 billion

euros, an increase of 1 billion euros at both ends from its

prior forecast.

Bayer, which is grappling with costly U.S. product liability

litigation, has already paid about $10 billion to settle

disputed claims that Roundup, based on glyphosate, causes

cancer.

Plaintiffs have said they developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

and other forms of cancer due to using Roundup, either at home

or on the job. The company has since replaced glyphosate in U.S.

consumer products with different weed-killing substances.

On Thursday, Bayer announced a significant settlement with a

plaintiffs' law firm, reducing unresolved glyphosate claims to

61,000. Of the total 192,000 claims, 131,000 have been settled

or deemed ineligible, Bayer said.

Bayer forecast 2025 earnings before interest, tax,

depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-off

items, to range between 9.7 billion euros and 10.2 billion

euros.

The group also reported preliminary second-quarter sales of

about 10.7 billion euros and group EBITDA before special items

of about 2.1 billion euros.

Bayer will report its April-June earnings on August 6.

($1 = 0.8759 euros)

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru;

Editing by Anil D'Silva and Subhranshu Sahu)