Earnings slide at BASF amid 'volatile' market conditions

(Sharecast News) - German chemicals giant BASF Group posted a slump in annual sales and earnings on Friday, on the back of an "uncertain and very volatile" market backdrop. Sales slipped nearly 3% to €59.7bn at the Ludwigshafen-based firm, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to €5.6bn from €6.2bn a year previously.

One-off charges came in at €937m in the year to December end, primarily related to ongoing restructuring and cost-saving programmes.

BASF said the group had faced an "uncertain and very volatile market environment with considerable headwinds" during the year.

Markus Kamieth, chief executive, continued: "We therefore mainly focused on the things we can control within the framework of our Winning Ways strategy. We successfully started up the major plants at our new Verbund site in Zhanjiang. We also accelerated our cost-savings programmes and significantly streamlined BASF's organisation."

However, BASF acknowledged that despite this, 2025 and the fourth quarter in particular "did not develop as anticipated".

As at 1100 GMT, the Frankfurt-listed stock was down 3%.

Looking to the current year, and BASF forecast EBITDA before special items of between €6.2bn and €7bn. The upper end narrowly missed average analyst expectations for €7.02bn.

It is also targeting annual cost savings of €2.3bn by the end of 2026, up from an earlier target for €2.1bn.

Kamieth warned that so far, the first quarter had "been as challenging as expected", with weaker volumes in January and currency impacts weighing heavily.