BASF has enacted an austerity program and the head of the company is changing the company. But there are some problems on the Ludwigshafeners.
Ludwigshafen (dpa) - The world's largest chemical company BASF expects the new corona virus to have a significant impact on the global economy.
"This year we are already experiencing a high level of uncertainty in the global economy in the first two months," said CEO Martin Brudermüller when presenting the annual figures in Ludwigshafen.
With the corona virus, a new factor has been added, which significantly affects growth at the beginning of the year, especially in China. Lower demand and production downtimes in many industries are the consequences of measures to prevent the virus from spreading further. For example, numerous factories in China remained closed beyond the New Year or produced to a lesser extent.
BASF expects negative effects especially in the first and second quarters. In addition, he does not expect "that the corona effects can be fully offset in the course of the year," added Brudermüller.
Nevertheless, BASF wants to grow again in the current year after a decline in sales in 2019. Revenues are expected to rise to between 60 and 63 billion euros in 2020 after 59.3 billion euros in the previous year. The company is targeting 4.2 billion to 4.8 billion euros for the adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in the current year. In 2019, the result decreased by 28 percent to 4.5 billion euros.