BASF reports income boost in Q3 but cautious on full-year outlook

FRANKFURT, Germany — German chemicals giant BASF announced net income of 287 million euros ($311 million) on Wednesday thanks to the transfer of its energy division, and said it expected earnings for 2024 at the "low end" of forecasts.

Analysts surveyed by financial data supplier FactSet had predicted net income of 412 million euros.

BASF said in a statement that its operating profit, a key performance indicator, stood at 1.3 billion euros, seven percent down on the same period last year.

It said that "special charges" linked to the closure of a factory in its agricultural division had weighed on income.

The world's largest chemicals group said it still expected 2024 operating profit to be between 8 and 8.6 billion euros but that it would be at "the low end" of this range.

It warned that for the fourth quarter of the year "there are risks from potential declines in prices and lower growth volume than expected".

Sales between July and September were at 15.7 billion euros, "on a level with the prior-year period".

Sales were buoyed by volume growth in all segments except surface technologies, hit by weak demand in the automotive market.

However, negative currency effects and lower prices, particularly for metals, "hindered sales performance".

The handover of its Wintershall Dea assets to Harbour Energy — a major part of its retreat from fossil-fuel energy — gave BASF special income of almost 400 million euros.

BASF announced a major overhaul in September to cut costs and strengthen its "core businesses": Chemicals, materials, industrial solutions and nutrition segments.