BASF Group releases preliminary figures for full year 2023

Sales and EBIT before special items below the ranges forecasted by BASF and slightly below the respective analyst consensus

19-Jan-2024

BASF SE

Expected BASF Group sales for the full year 2023 of €68,902 million are below the range of €73 billion to €76 billion forecasted by BASF and below average analyst estimates for 2023 (Vara: €70,579 million). Sales in 2022 amounted to €87,327 million.

Expected income from operations (EBIT) before special items of €3,806 million in 2023 is below the range of €4.0 billion to €4.4 billion forecasted by BASF and below the level of average analyst estimates for 2023 (Vara: €3,934 million). EBIT before special items in 2022 amounted to €6,878 million. The decrease compared with the prior year is due to sales-related lower margins, which could not be offset by the achieved fixed cost reduction.

The average analyst estimates for EBIT before special items of the segments are slightly exceeded in 2023 by Industrial Solutions, Materials and Agricultural Solutions. In the Chemicals segment, EBIT before special items in 2023 falls considerably short of average analyst estimates, among other things due to unplanned plant shutdowns. In the Surface Technologies and Nutrition & Care segments, EBIT before special items in 2023 remains slightly below the respective analyst consensus. In Other, EBIT before special items in 2023 is slightly weaker than expected by analysts on average.

The BASF Group’s expected EBIT in 2023 amounts to €2,240 million; this is below analyst consensus for 2023 (Vara: €3,691 million) and below the figure for the prior year (2022: €6,548 million). This is primarily attributable to non-cash-effective impairments in the amount of €1.1 billion. These mainly relate to the Surface Technologies, Agricultural Solutions and Materials segments.

Net income of BASF Group is expected to amount to €225 million in 2023. This is an improvement of €852 million compared with the prior-year figure (2022: minus €627 million), which included non-cash-effective impairments on Russia-related assets of Wintershall Dea in the amount of €6.5 billion. Analyst consensus for net income in 2023 (Vara: €2,247 million) is, however, not achieved.

Cash flows from operating activities are expected to reach €8.1 billion in 2023 and are thus above the prior-year figure of €7,709 million. Free cash flow is expected to amount to €2.7 billion (2022: €3,333 million).

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1182512/basf-group-releases-preliminary-figures-for-full-year-2023.html