BASF cuts 2015 outlook as global economic growth stutters
by The Associated Press
Germany-based BASF cut pre-tax profit forecast by as much as US$5 billion in wake of slower global economic growth
BERLIN—Chemical and oil company BASF SE is warning that its profits will come in below its previous forecast in the wake of slower global economic growth and industrial production.
Shares in BASF dropped 2.4 per cent US$87.70 in Frankfurt trading Oct. 24 after the company revised its forecast.
BASF upheld its target of a slight increase in pretax earnings this year but said that “from today’s point of view” it no longer expects to reach its previous 2015 forecast of US$101 billion in revenue and US$17.7 billion in pretax profit.
It says it now expects those figures to be “in line with market expectations”—in the case of pretax profit that means somewhere between US$12.6- and US$15.2 billion.
Germany-based BASF is the largest chemical company in the world.
It employs about 600 people at its Mississauga, Ont., headquarters, and 13 manufacturing facilities and sales sites, according to the company’s website.
