BASF Group has released preliminary figures for the second quarter of 2021. Sales increased by 55.8% in the second quarter of 2021 to €19,753 million (Q2 2020: €12,680 million). This was driven by higher prices (+35%) and volumes (+28%); negative currency effects (–7%) had an offsetting effect.

In the second quarter of 2021, the operating business of BASF Group has been able to maintain the strong momentum since the fourth quarter of 2020. EBIT before special items is expected to amount to €2,355 million, a considerable increase compared with the prior-year quarter, which was weak due to the pandemic (Q2 2020: €226 million).

The Chemicals, Materials and Industrial Solutions segments considerably exceeded aver-age analyst estimates for EBIT before special items in the second quarter of 2021

BASF Group’s EBIT is expected to be €2,316 million in the second quarter of 2021, con-siderably above the figure for the prior-year quarter, which was weak due to the pan-demic (Q2 2020: €59 million). EBIT in the second quarter of 2021 includes a preliminary disposal gain of a mid-double-digit million-euro amount from the sale of the pigments business.

Outlook 2021 for the BASF Group

Based on the strong business development in the first half of 2021 (Sales H1 2021: €39,153 million; EBIT before special items H1 2021: €4,676 million), BASF is increasing its outlook 2021 for sales and EBIT before special items.

For the full year 2021, BASF Group now expects sales of €74 billion to €77 billion (previous outlook 2021: €68 billion to €71 billion; analyst consensus 2021: €68,654 million; full year 2020: €59,149 million).

EBIT before special items is now anticipated to reach between €7.0 billion and €7.5 billion in 2021 (previous outlook 2021: €5.0 billion to €5.8 billion; analyst consensus 2021: €6,299 million; full year 2020: €3,560 million). The considera-bly increased earnings expectations in the Chemicals and Materials segments are the main reason for the increase of the forecast for 2021.