BASF
Sales and adjusted EBIT improve in Q1 2014 / Bock confirms positive outlook for full year / Plans for shale-gas fed methane-to-propylene complex in USA revealed
 Kurt Bock (Photo: BASF) |
After a good first quarter for most of its businesses, and despite unfavourable currency developments, BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) has confirmed its outlook for full year 2014 – see Plasteurope.com of 26.02.2014. Speaking at the annual general meeting, CEO Kurt Bock said the world’s largest chemical producer expects “somewhat faster growth” compared with 2013. Although sales are likely to decline slightly due to the divestment of the gas trading business, the same transaction will likely lift EBIT.
A major investment for the German group this year will be construction of a world-scale methane-to-propylene complex on the US Gulf Coast, taking advantage of low-cost ethane feedstock from shale gas. The facility, which Bock said will be BASF’s largest single-plant investment to date, is expected to “considerably improve the group’s cost position and backward integration in the US.
Looking at results for Q1 2014, the CEO said group sales rose by 1% to EUR 19.5 bn. While EBIT before special was down 3% to EUR 2.1 bn, figures adjusted for the sale of shares in BASF non-operated North Sea oil and gas fields to Russia’s Gazprom show a rise of EUR 80 bn. EBITDA gained EUR 69m to reach EUR 3 bn. Earnings in the segments Performance Products and Functional Materials and Solutions (including engineering plastics) “improved significantly.”
BASF’s Chemicals segment, which includes petrochemicals and starting materials for polyurethanes as well as plastics intermediates, saw sales revenue stagnate at the 2013 quarterly level, with EBITDA down 7% to EUR 782m due to margin pressure. Lower selling prices and negative currency effects were balanced by higher volume sales, especially for intermediates, which saw a 2% increase in sales to EUR 711m.
Turnover of the monomers division decreased by 5% against the strong 2013 quarter to EUR 1.6 bn. Earnings on monomers receded, due to lower margins on isocyanates in Europe. Construction costs for the new TDI plant in Ludwigshafen and a new MDI plant at Chongqing / China also contributed to the weakness. In the Petrochemicals division, sustained high margins for cracker products were unable to compensate for lower margins in some product lines. Here, too, earnings declined slightly.
In Functional Materials and Solutions, sales rose by 1% to EUR 4.2 bn. All of the segment’s divisions contributed to the 20% rise in EBITDA to EUR 424m. On the back of strong volume development, especially for engineering plastics, the microcellular polyurethane components Cellasto and the TPU business, both sales and earnings of the Performance Materials division improved “slightly,” despite negative currency effects.
e-Service:
BASF interim report for Q1 2014 as a PDF file
A major investment for the German group this year will be construction of a world-scale methane-to-propylene complex on the US Gulf Coast, taking advantage of low-cost ethane feedstock from shale gas. The facility, which Bock said will be BASF’s largest single-plant investment to date, is expected to “considerably improve the group’s cost position and backward integration in the US.
Looking at results for Q1 2014, the CEO said group sales rose by 1% to EUR 19.5 bn. While EBIT before special was down 3% to EUR 2.1 bn, figures adjusted for the sale of shares in BASF non-operated North Sea oil and gas fields to Russia’s Gazprom show a rise of EUR 80 bn. EBITDA gained EUR 69m to reach EUR 3 bn. Earnings in the segments Performance Products and Functional Materials and Solutions (including engineering plastics) “improved significantly.”
BASF’s Chemicals segment, which includes petrochemicals and starting materials for polyurethanes as well as plastics intermediates, saw sales revenue stagnate at the 2013 quarterly level, with EBITDA down 7% to EUR 782m due to margin pressure. Lower selling prices and negative currency effects were balanced by higher volume sales, especially for intermediates, which saw a 2% increase in sales to EUR 711m.
Turnover of the monomers division decreased by 5% against the strong 2013 quarter to EUR 1.6 bn. Earnings on monomers receded, due to lower margins on isocyanates in Europe. Construction costs for the new TDI plant in Ludwigshafen and a new MDI plant at Chongqing / China also contributed to the weakness. In the Petrochemicals division, sustained high margins for cracker products were unable to compensate for lower margins in some product lines. Here, too, earnings declined slightly.
In Functional Materials and Solutions, sales rose by 1% to EUR 4.2 bn. All of the segment’s divisions contributed to the 20% rise in EBITDA to EUR 424m. On the back of strong volume development, especially for engineering plastics, the microcellular polyurethane components Cellasto and the TPU business, both sales and earnings of the Performance Materials division improved “slightly,” despite negative currency effects.
e-Service:
BASF interim report for Q1 2014 as a PDF file
05.05.2014 Plasteurope.com [228135-0]
Published on 05.05.2014
German version of this article...