FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German chemicals giant BASF on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected first quarter operating profit, driven by its crop protection, chemicals and materials divisions.
Although the group said earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and before special items fell by 31.5% to 1.93 billion euros ($2.12 billion), this was above the 1.6 billion euro consensus forecast it provided from Vara Research.
BASF in February announced it would cut 2,600 jobs, and halt share buybacks to counter rising costs that have led it to expect profits to fall by up to 30% this year.
Shares in BASF turned positive following the preliminary results, which come ahead of first-quarter numbers scheduled for April 27, and closed 0.6% higher on the day.
BASF said its first-quarter net profit rose 28% to 1.56 billion, also beating the 1.08 billion analyst forecast, adding the prior year figure had been impacted by impairments on its majority stake in Wintershall DEA.
Sales, meantime, fell 13.4% to just under 20 billion euros in the period, below market expectations and driven by much lower volumes, BASF said, without giving further detail.
($1 = 0.9112 euros)