BASF Confirms 2Q Results; Still Can't Provide Full-Year Outlook

   By Kim Richters 
 

BASF SE on Wednesday confirmed preliminary second-quarter results and said it still can't provide full-year guidance.

The German chemical company said its net loss for the period was 878 million euros ($1.03 billion) compared with a profit of EUR5.95 billion a year earlier, citing a noncash-effective impairment to subsidiary Wintershall Dea due to lower oil and gas prices and changed reserve estimates. Profit for the second quarter of 2019 was boosted by the spin-off of oil-and-gas business Wintershall.

Quarterly earnings before interest and taxes dropped to EUR59 million from EUR507 million, while EBIT before special items fell to EUR226 million from EUR995 million.

Sales fell to EUR12.68 billion from EUR14.48 billion mainly due to lower sales volumes as a result of coronavirus lockdown measures, BASF said.

Before the preliminary release, analysts had expected a quarterly net loss of EUR158 million, EBIT before special items of EUR146 million and sales of EUR11.08 billion, according to a consensus provided by Vara Research.

BASF said it still couldn't provide a full-year sales and earnings outlook due to economic uncertainty and low visibility.

It doesn't expect third-quarter EBIT before special items to improve significantly on quarter, partly due to generally lower demand in August.

Write to Kim Richters at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2020 02:08 ET (06:08 GMT)

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