Toronto, Ontario -- With the release of its preliminary Q2 performance figures, a German chemical giant BASF is downgrading its performance expectations for 2025.
Citing U.S. tariffs, weaker global growth and margin pressure, the automotive coating provider now expects its full-year EBITDA to fall between €7.3 and €7.7 billion (US$7.91–8.35 billion), down from its earlier forecast of €8.0 to €8.4 billion (US$8.66–9.10 billion)
The announcement came at the same time BASF released early Q2 results showing a reasonably strong performance during the quarter. It reported EBITDA before special items of €1.77 billion (US$1.92 billion), matching analyst consensus but down from €1.96 billion (US$2.13 billion) in Q2 2024.
Sales fell 2.1 percent to €15.77 billion (US$17.10 billion), driven by currency headwinds and lower prices in its core chemicals segment, despite volume gains in agricultural solutions and surface technologies.
Net income declined sharply to €0.08 billion (US$0.09 billion), largely due to higher income taxes and reduced equity investment returns. Free cash flow rose to €0.53 billion (US$0.58 billion), compared with €0.47 billion (US$0.51 billion) a year earlier.
Investors received the quarterly estimates and the 2025 performance expectations update warmly, despite the tightened outlook. On the Monday, following the announcement, shares rose 2.33 percent -- the strongest performance among any DAX-listed stock -- climbing from approximately €43.13 to €44.12 by mid-morning trading on the Frankfurt exchange.
The company's full Q2 results will be released online at the end of July.
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