German chemical giant BASF has released its earnings guidance for the third quarter of 2020. The preliminary figures project the company’s sales declined by 5% during the period to €13.8 billion ($16.3 billion) from €14.6 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, EBIT plummeted from €1.3 billion to minus €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) over the same period. The declines were mostly attributed to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and adverse currency effects.
BASF’s EBIT before special items is expected around €581 million ($687 million) falling sharply from €1,056 million in the same quarter last year, but rising sharply from €226 million in the second quarter of 2020. The month-on-month increase pointed out an ongoing improvement in the chemical market.
For the full-year 2020, sales are projected at around €57-€58 billion ($67-$69 billion) from €59,316 million in 2019, while EBIT before special items is expected at €3.0-€3.3 billion ($3.5-3.9 billion) for 2020, compared to €4.6 billion last year. Separately, investment bank Morgan Stanley also expects the chemical market to see a “V-shaped” recovery for the remainder of this year and into 2021, led by rebounding demand in Asia.
