BASF's Chairman remains confident of 2008

24 Apr '08

3 min read

The BASF Group has continued on its successful path in the first three months of 2008. Having posted a further record quarter, it is confident with regard to the coming months. First-quarter sales rose by almost 9 percent to €15.9 billion, while income from operations (EBIT) before special items increased by more than 11 percent compared with the same period of 2007 to almost €2.4 billion.

“Our long-term strategy is paying off. That's most apparent in turbulent times like the ones we're currently seeing in the financial markets. BASF's strategy is not to try to achieve improvements over just a few quarters.

Instead, we strive constantly to keep ahead of the global competition over the long term,” said BASF's Chairman Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht in his presentation of the company's figures for 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 at the first annual meeting of BASF SE on April 24, 2008 in Mannheim.

First-quarter sales rose significantly in the Chemicals segment due to higher volumes and prices. All divisions contributed to the increase in sales with double-digit growth rates.

The excellent earnings level achieved in the same quarter of the previous year was not reached. This was due to a decline in margins for cracker products and decreased plant availability in the Petrochemicals division.

The Plastics segment posted a slight increase in sales compared with the first quarter of 2007. The rise in sales in the Polyurethanes division as a result of continued high demand worldwide more than offset the slight currency-related decrease in the Performance Polymers division.

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