German chemical giant BASF has released its financial report for the first quarter of 2024, revealing that the group’s total sales in the first three months amounted to €17.6 billion. This marks a €2.4 billion decrease compared to the same period last year, representing a 12.2% year-on-year decline.
BASF stated that this drop was primarily due to significant price reductions resulting from lower costs of raw materials, energy, and precious metals in various segments. Additionally, unfavorable currency fluctuations further contributed to the decline across all segments. However, strong sales volume growth in the Chemicals, Materials, Nutrition & Care, and Industrial Solutions segments offset the decrease, although there were reduced volumes in the Agricultural Solutions and Surface Technologies segments.
From a regional perspective, BASF saw a decline in sales across all regions in the first quarter of this year. In Europe, sales dropped by 13.8% to €7.41 billion, with the German domestic market experiencing a 12.8% decrease to €2.94 billion. North America witnessed a 9.4% decrease in sales to €5.375 billion. Sales in the Asia Pacific region fell by 14% to €3.83 billion, with Greater China declining by 9% to €2.102 billion, and South America, Africa, and the Middle East experiencing a 6.6% decrease to 938 million.
In the first quarter of 2024, income from operations before depreciation, amortization, and special items (EBITDA before special items) reached €2.7 billion, surpassing analysts’ average estimates by 5.7 percent. However, compared to the same period in 2023, EBITDA before special items decreased by €153 million or 5.3 percent. The Nutrition & Care, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Chemicals segments saw increases in EBITDA before special items, largely due to reduced fixed costs and higher contribution margins driven by volume growth. Despite these improvements,
Compared to the first quarter of 2023, income after taxes decreased by €193 million to €1.4 billion. Noncontrolling interests remained nearly unchanged at €43 million from the prior year. Consequently, net income stood at €1.4 billion, down from €1.6 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
BASF Group’s overall EBITDA before special items slightly declined, primarily due to decreased earnings in the “Other” segment, attributed mainly to higher bonus provisions. EBITDA before special items also decreased in the Agricultural Solutions and Surface Technologies segments compared to the first quarter of 2023.
