BASF’s preliminary figures for the first quarter of 2023 show sales dropped below analyst consensus but EBIT before special items, EBIT and net income in Q1 2023 are above respective average analyst estimates.
Sales declined by 13.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 to €19.991 billion (Q1 2022: €23.083 billion), mainly driven by lower volumes – considerably lower than average analyst estimates for the first quarter of 2023 (Vara: €21.819 billion).
EBIT before special items amounted to an expected €1.931 billion in the first quarter of 2023, a decline of 31.5 per cent compared with the prior-year quarter (Q1 2022: €2.818 billion) but significantly above the analyst consensus (Vara: €1.599 billion).
In particular, EBIT before special items in the Agricultural Solutions segment substantially exceeded average analyst estimates. Chemicals, Materials and Surface Technologies were also considerably above the respective average analyst estimates for EBIT before special items. In the Industrial Solutions and Nutrition & Care segments, EBIT before special items missed average analyst estimates slightly and significantly, respectively. In ‘Other’, EBIT before special items was weaker than expected by analysts on average.
The BASF Group’s EBIT amounted to an expected €1.867 billion in the first quarter of 2023, substantially below the figure for the prior-year quarter (Q1 2022: €2b785 billion) but considerably above the analyst consensus (Vara: €1.533 billion).
Net income reached €1.562 billion, significantly above the figure in the prior-year quarter (Q1 2022: €1.221 billion) and substantially above average analyst estimates (Vara: €1.081 billion). In the prior-year quarter, impairments on the participation in the European natural gas and oil company Wintershall Dea burdened BASF’s net income.