Recovery at BASF remains slow despite rise in third quarter sales

21-Oct-09

Chemical giant BASF’s preliminary results indicated a 2.4% increase in sales in the third quarter to €12.8 bln compared Q2. Income from operations before special items (EBIT) is €1.25 bln, 9.5% more than in Q2. These healthier numbers reflect the company’s “operational strength”, and echo the effects of the timely and extensive measures implemented to adjust capacity utilisation rates and to reduce costs. Overall, markets have stabilised at a low level, with strong growth opportunities expected in Asia, especially China, and some areas of South America. But results show BASF is not yet back to 2008 levels of profit, as sales are down 19% as compared to figures in the same quarter last year, while EBIT is 20% lower.