BASF Group says it expects sales for 2023 to reach €68.9 billion – below the range of €73 billion to €76 billion forecast by the company. Sales in 2022 came to €87.3 billion.
Expected income from operations (EBIT) before special items was €3.8 billion in 2023 – also below the range of €4.0 billion to €4.4 billion predicted by the company and comparing unfavourably to the 2022 figure of €6.878 billion. According to BASF, the decrease compared with 2022 is because of lower sales-related margins which could not be offset by fixed cost reductions.
EBIT is expected to be €2.2 billion, as opposed to €6.5 billion in 2022. BASF said this is mainly attributable to non-cash-effective impairments of €1.1 billion mainly relating to the Surface Technologies, Agricultural Solutions and Materials segments.
Net income is expected to be €225 million in 2023. Bringing BASF back into the black, this is an improvement of €852 million compared with the 2022 figure of negative €627 million, which included non-cash-effective impairments on Russia-related assets of Wintershall Dea.
Cash flows from operating activities are expected to reach €8.1 billion in 2023, coming in above the 2022 figure of €7.7 billion. Free cash flow is expected to amount to €2.7 billion (2022: €3.3 billion).
The company will publish its 2023 report on 23 February.