BASF 3rd quarter sales, earnings drop

Germany's BASF says 3rd quarter sales down 19 percent on year, pretax profit 20 percent lower

• On 6:20 am EDT, Wednesday October 14, 2009

BERLIN (AP) -- Chemicals maker BASF SE said Wednesday that third quarter sales and earnings fell on the year but improved compared with the previous quarter, suggesting that demand is recovering gradually.

A preliminary earnings statement from the Ludwigshafen-based company said sales for the July-September quarter were euro12.8 billion ($18.95 billion) -- down 19 percent from a year earlier but 2.4 percent higher than in the second quarter.

BASF did not provide net earnings figures. Its full third quarter report is due on Oct. 29.

It said third quarter earnings before interest and taxes, before special items, came in at euro1.25 billion. That figure was 20 percent lower than a year earlier, but 9.5 percent higher than in this year's second quarter.

"These figures exceed the consensus analysts' estimates available to BASF," the company said in a statement.

The report pushed BASF shares up 6.4 percent to euro40.25 in Frankfurt trading.

The company said its integration of Swiss specialty chemicals firm Ciba is moving ahead faster than expected, which will cause "higher special charges" in the third quarter.

BASF said its third quarter performance reflected its operational strength.

"We are seeing the effects of the extensive measures we implemented in good time to adjust capacity utilization rates and to reduce costs," Chief Executive Juergen Hambrecht said.

In overall terms, "markets have stabilized at a low level," but economic developments in the months ahead remain hard to predict, BASF said. It said Asia -- particularly China -- and parts of South America were bright spots.

"Although the mood is slightly brighter and we are climbing out of the trough, the recovery remains slow and fragile," Hambrecht said.

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