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(BASF) -- Demand for BASF’s products continued to be high in the third
quarter of 2010. There was hardly any sign of the usual seasonal slowdown and
the capacity utilization rate was high.
In this favorable economic
environment, BASF’s business performed better than anticipated. The good
business development is expected to continue in the fourth quarter and BASF has
therefore raised its outlook for the current year.
Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht, Chairman of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors
said: “We are now profiting from the favorable economic environment because we
further improved our competitiveness in the crisis and made our portfolio even
more cyclically resilient through the rapid integration of Ciba.”
Net income increased by ?1 billion to ?1.2 billion. At 33.4%, the tax
rate was lower than in the third quarter of 2009. This was mainly due to the
lower earnings contribution from the highly-taxed Oil & Gas segment.
Cash provided by operating activities increased to the high level of ?5.3
billion. This was partly due to a decrease in net working capital in the third
quarter despite continued strong demand.
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