Bayer's third-quarter profit unexpectedly grew, powered by its prescription drugs unit -- the very business that risks being sidelined after its $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and excluding some costs, rose 6 percent to 2.68 billion euros ($2.92 billion) last quarter, the Leverkusen, Germany-based company said in a statement Wednesday. That compared with the 2.53 billion-euro average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Bayer's pharmaceuticals once again sustained earnings, led by demand for medicines such as the blood thinner Xarelto. The German company last month raised the annual sales forecast for its latest blockbuster drugs -- including Xarelto and the eye treatment Eylea -- to more than 10 billion euros from 7.5 billion euros. Crop sciences, which will probably replace prescription medicines as Bayer's biggest business after the Monsanto takeover is completed, showed little growth.

Bayer shares fell 2.2 percent to 89.51 euros at 11:22 a.m. in Frankfurt trading after the company said brands like Claritin and Coppertone, gained with the purchase of Merck & Co.'s over-the-counter medicines in 2014, were a drag on the consumer health business. Earnings at the division dropped 3,5 percent last quarter. The unit's performance "underlines how disappointing the Merck over-the-counter integration has been," wrote Alistair Campbell, an analyst at Berenberg Bank, in a note to clients.

Funded with a combination of debt and equity, the Monsanto purchase will leave the German company little scope for acquisitions to boost its pharmaceutical business. Bayer on Wednesday said it had finalized the syndication of a $57 billion bridge loan at the start of the month. It expects to apply for regulatory approval of the transaction this year in the U.S. and probably in the first quarter in the European Union and doesn't expect any major holdups.

"This is a very manageable risk," Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said in an interview with Bloomberg TV's Guy Johnson and Caroline Hyde, pointing to Monsanto's relatively small presence outside the Americas. "We are very confident that we can resolve any issue that may come up there in product overlaps."

Bayer isn't just working on buying Monsanto, it's also weighing the sale of its dermatology business, which includes the brand Desonate for eczema, according to people familiar with the plans. The German company may also offload its radiology business, which could be worth up to $3 billion, the people said.

Bayer has agreed to a termination fee of $2 billion with Monsanto and may divest businesses from the combined entity with sales totaling $1.6 billion, if needed, to gain antitrust approval. Baumann declined to comment on whether the company plans to sell the radiology and dermatology units in a call with reporters.

Bayer's sales rose 2 percent last quarter to 11.2 billion euros, buoyed by increased volumes of Xarelto in Europe and Japan. Older over-the-counter brands like Aleve and Alka-Seltzer also grew, but couldn't offset a broader cost-related decline at the consumer health unit. The "weak business environment, particularly in Latin America," held back crop science products in the quarter, the company said. Higher selling prices and a currency boost were offset by lower volumes and higher research spending in that business.

Buying Monsanto will allow Bayer to tap growing demand as farmers seek to boost productivity to feed an estimated 10 billion people globally by 2050. Falling crop prices and a quest for greater efficiency have triggered a cascade of deals over the past year. DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. have agreed to merge and then carve out a new crop-science unit and China National Chemical Corp. is buying Switzerland's Syngenta AG.

Bayer's stock has declined almost 12 percent since March 21, when the possibility of a transaction with Monsanto first emerged.

"In the short term we expect Bayer to remain trading below its intrinsic value as we await regulatory updates regarding the multiple agri-chemical transactions currently on the table," Peter Verdult, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., wrote in a note to clients.

Bayer on Wednesday made a slight adjustment to its full-year outlook. Core earnings per share will probably rise by a high single-digit percentage this year, the company said. The previous forecast was for a gain of a mid- to high-single-digit percentage. It stuck to earlier estimates for two other measures of performance.

In July, the company said sales this year would likely climb to between 46 billion euros and 47 billion euros including revenue from the plastics division Covestro AG. Ebitda before special items is likely to rise by a high-single-digit percentage. Bayer still holds a 64 percent stake in Covestro, which reported a 22 percent increase in profits on Tuesday.