BASF overcomes challenges to post sales and earnings gains

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Chemical company BASF Group said Friday that it overcame a “challenging” economy to post slightly higher sales and earnings in the third quarter of 2014.BASF, which has its North American headquarters in Florham Park, said in a news release that Q3 sales grew 3 percent from the same period in 2013, to approximately $23.2 billion. Earnings from operations, before special items, rose $189.9 million, to $2.3 billion. BASF said the chemicals and oil & gas segments helped fuel the growth, while earnings slumped in its agricultural solutions segment.

“The economic environment remained challenging in the third quarter of 2014,” Kurt Bock, chairman of BASF, said in a prepared statement. “Geopolitical tensions and increasing uncertainty about the global economic development significantly dampened demand for chemical products. Nevertheless, sales and earnings of BASF Group increased in the third quarter of 2014.”

In the North American unit, known as BASF Corporation, sales rose 3 percent from the year-ago period, but earnings fell $16.5 million, to $433 million.

“Sales growth is mainly attributable to increases in the Chemicals segment,” Hans Engel, chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation, said in a prepared statement. The earnings decline was blamed in part on “a considerably lower contribution” from agricultural solutions, BASF said.

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