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A decision on the Coatings division is expected in Q4 2025.
October 6, 2025
By: David Savastano
Editor
One year after the announcement of its “Winning Ways” strategy, BASF confirms its 2028 financial targets and provided an update on its standalone and core businesses as part of a Capital Market Update in Antwerp, Belgium.
“The last 12 months have shown that we are focusing on the right topics with our new strategy. We are making good progress in terms of execution, and we are confident in achieving our financial targets for 2028,” says Dr. Markus Kamieth, chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, during his keynote. “Our focus on portfolio steering, capital allocation and performance culture will position BASF well for future profitable growth.”
In his presentation, Kamieth gave insights into developments in the company’s four standalone businesses:
• BASF plans to keep Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS) for longer as it considers itself to be the best owner to operate this business, which generated sales of €7 billion in 2024. The business, which was carved out in 2023, is expected to generate cumulative cash flows of around €4 billion between 2024 and 2030.
• In the Battery Materials division, which had sales of €0.6 billion in 2024, BASF has significantly reduced fixed costs and capital expenditures, and agreements have been signed with key customers like CATL to fill existing capacities. BASF is also exploring collaboration opportunities along the value chain.
• In the Coatings division, the sale of the Brazilian decorative paints business to Sherwin-Williams for a purchase price of $1.15 billion on a cash and debt-free basis was closed effective October 1, 2025. In Q2 2025, BASF approached the market to explore strategic options for the automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinish coatings and surface treatment businesses, which generated sales of €3.8 billion in 2024. A decision is expected in Q4 2025.
• BASF is targeting IPO readiness in 2027 for a minority share listing of its Agricultural Solutions division, which generated sales of €9.8 billion in 2024. The company is currently making good progress on executing the legal entity separation and implementing an industry-specific ERP system.
BASF remains committed to attractive shareholder distributions based on achieving the corporate financial targets it announced in September 2024: EBITDA before special items of €10 billion to €12 billion in 2028 assuming mid to upcycle conditions, cumulative free cash flow of more than €12 billion for 2025 to 2028, and return on capital employed (ROCE) of around 10% in 2028.
The company confirmed an annual dividend of at least €2.25 per share between 2025 and 2028, totaling around €8 billion over the period. During its Capital Markets Day in September 2024, BASF also committed to repurchasing shares for at least €4 billion between 2027 and 2028. The company now indicated that it may start earlier with its share buyback program, depending on the Coatings transaction.
“Our successful portfolio measures will enable us to strengthen our balance sheet and potentially accelerate share buybacks,” says BASF CFO Dr. Dirk Elvermann. “We have already received proceeds from the divestments of the decorative paints business and the food and health performance ingredients business. We will continue to capture value from oil and gas assets and are exploring strategic options for our Coatings activities. Furthermore, we are preparing for a partial IPO of our Agricultural Solutions business.”
The company is taking a disciplined approach to capital allocation: BASF has reduced its expected payments for property, plant and equipment and intangible assets between 2025 and 2028 from around €17 billion to €16 billion. The new Zhanjiang Verbund site in southern China is on schedule and below budget, with total capital expenditures between 2019 and 2028 reduced by €1.3 billion to approximately €8.7 billion. Most plants are expected to start up by the end of 2025.
In the mid to long term, the Zhanjiang Verbund site will play a key role in strengthening BASF’s core businesses, which Kamieth focused on in the closing section of his presentation.
In 2024, these core businesses, which comprise the four segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Nutrition & Care, generated sales of €40.3 billion. From upstream to downstream, the core businesses are deeply integrated into long and multiple-step value chains such as ethylene oxide or polyurethanes.
“This integration and the application of various technologies provide BASF with advantages in terms of cost position, competitiveness and favorable product carbon footprints,” says Kamieth. In selected value chains, BASF is addressing performance gaps by closing unprofitable plants, starting up competitive new operations and exploring strategic options. These measures are expected to lift earnings in the core businesses by around €400 million by 2028.
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