The Urethane Blog
March 13, 2025
BASF SE (BASFY) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
Feb. 28, 2025 8:46 AM ETBASF SE (BASFY) Stock, BFFAF StockBASFY, BFFAF
BASF SE (OTCQX:BASFY) Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Call February 28, 2025 3:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Stefanie Wettberg – Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Markus Kamieth – Chief Executive Officer
Dirk Elvermann – Chief Financial Officer
Markus Kamieth
Yes. Thank you, Stefanie. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first conference call in 2025. In a challenging market environment, BASF has performed well, thanks to the strong performance of our core businesses, where we leveraged our strong market positions to grow EBITDA before special items by 18% compared with 2023. Overall, EBITDA before special items of BASF Group increased by 2%.
Lower-than-projected capital expenditures and our continued strong focus on net working capital led to a free cash flow of around €750 million, exceeding our forecast range of €100 million to €600 million. We are also making good progress in terms of portfolio management. The signing of the agreement to sell BASF’s Decorative Paints business to Sherwin-Williams marks an important step in unlocking the value of our standalone businesses.
So let’s begin with an overview of BASF’s performance in the fourth quarter. The €15.9 billion sales matched the level of prior year quarter. Volumes of BASF Group, excluding precious and base metals increased by 3%, thanks to the Agriculture Solutions segment in particular. The Chemicals & Industrial Solutions segment also increased volumes in the last quarter of the year. Prices excluding precious and base metals were slightly positive. Overall prices steadily recovered throughout 2024 compared with the respective quarter of the previous year.
Currency headwinds slightly dampened sales growth and were mainly related to the Brazilian real.
In an overall stable market environment, the Materials segment recorded slightly lower volumes in both divisions. In the Monomers division, volumes declined particularly in the PA6.6 and PA6, while in the Performance Materials division, volumes decreased mainly in engineering plastics. Specific margins improved in both divisions with the highest contribution from the MDI value chain.
Nonetheless, EBITDA before special items in the Materials segment declined slightly. Higher earnings in the Monomers division could not fully compensate for lower earnings in the Performance Materials division.
Thomas Wrigglesworth
Thanks very much, Stefanie. Good morning everybody and thank you for the presentation. Two questions, if I may. Firstly, can you talk a little bit about the kind of China recovery story that you’ve been talking to in 2024? Clearly, the latest data point in chemicals at a headline level looks a bit weaker in the fourth quarter. And then on the other side, we’ve also had some of your peers talk more positively about MDI in China as well.
So keen to get your thoughts on how China is progressing? And the second question is, any comments on kind of near-term trading and how you’re thinking about 1Q noting that obviously the Ag Solutions business is very important to that first quarter performance? Thank you.
Markus Kamieth
Yes. Thanks, Tom. Markus here. I will take the first question, and I’ll hand over for current trading to Dirk. On China, your observation is correct. We were also based on — or after a rather solid and good development in the third quarter, a little bit disappointed on the dynamics, business dynamics overall in China in the fourth quarter. Towards November-December, we saw some cooling off also on the volume side and in particular, the upstream markets have cooled off in the last weeks of the year. So that dynamic was clearly there.
Overall, I have to say the year 2024 for us in China was a good one. We had volume growth in overall, if you discount the precious metal related businesses, if you look at the chemicals businesses, so to say, of roughly 5% in 2024, which is roughly in line with market also in China. So volumes overall in China were not the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge remain low margins because everything is long, and in the fourth quarter, it was a bit compounded overall because the year-end finished rather weak on the volume side.
You asked about MDI. I don’t want to now specifically get into individual products and pricing dynamics. But overall, I would say, our feeling is that across the board, I don’t want to call it a good pricing environment in China because, as I said everything stays long, but the first attempts to raise prices now in certain commodity areas are successful.
And I think overall, the start of the year is giving us some indications that also the volume growth holds up. So overall dynamics towards the end of the year were not favorable, but overall, China stays on track. Dirk?
March 11, 2025
Personnel changes at BASF
Heather Remley, President, Global Engineering Services, Ludwigshafen, will assume responsibility as President & CEO BASF Corporation, Florham Park, New Jersey, effective April 1, 2025. The current CEO of BASF Corporation, Marc Ehrhardt, has decided to leave the company at his own request. Christian Aucoin, Senior Vice President, Global Operations Agricultural Solutions, Limburgerhof, will, as President, succeed Heather Remley at the same time.
https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2025/03/p-25-036
March 11, 2025
ABM International has acquired Gribetz International and Porter International. Photo courtesy of ABM.
ABM International acquires 2 Leggett & Platt segments
Sheila Long O’Mara //Executive Editor, Furniture Today//March 10, 2025
MONTGOMERY, Texas – Industrial machine supplier ABM International has acquired the factories and other assets of Gribetz International and Porter International from Leggett & Platt.
Both companies had been part of the Global Systems Group, a division of Leggett & Platt. Terms of the deal that closed at the end of February were not disclosed.
The move combines the companies under the ownership of fourth-generation family-owned ABM International under the leadership of Neal Schwarzberger, president. The acquisition includes two factories – one in Sunrise, Fla., and one in Carthage, Mo. – totaling 100,000 square feet.
The new division of ABM International will be consolidated as Gribetz and will be managed by Paul Block, president of sales. Block had been with Leggett’s global systems group for more than 15 years.
“I am excited about the synergies these companies will create for the mattress and home furnishings industries,” Block said.
In addition to the real estate deal, 70 employees that work in the two new factories remain with the new division. Block said the sales, service and support teams that the organization’s customers have worked with in the past are in place under the new ownership structure.
Founded in 1947, ABM International specializes in sewing equipment, single-needle quilters and other specialized equipment used in mattress and upholstery manufacturing. Gribetz International was founded in 1940, and Porter was founded in 1948. Both companies were acquired by Leggett in the 1990s, and in 2010, Leggett acquired Galkin Automated Products, a sewing machine specialist founded in 1908.
The deal is part of Leggett’s ongoing restructuring that was announced last year.
March 10, 2025
Sadara, Oasis Pioneers Sign Long-Term Supply Agreement on MDI
PUdaily | Updated: March 5, 2025
JUBAIL INDUSTRIAL CITY, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 15, 2025 – In alignment with the Kingdom’s vision to enable the downstream industry, Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) and Oasis Pioneers Industrial Co. Ltd (Oasis Pioneers), have signed a long-term supply agreement for Methylenediphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI) amid the presence of Sadara CEO Fayez Al Sharef and Oasis Pioneers Chairman Khaled Juffali. Under the agreement, Sadara will supply MDI – a critical raw material used in high-performance applications – to Oasis Pioneers, who in turn will establish and operate a state-of-the-art MDI distillation and manufacturing facility, to produce advanced polyurethane solutions at PlasChem Park in Jubail Industrial City.
This partnership represents a significant milestone in advancing Saudi Arabia’s downstream sector, a vital component of the Kingdom’s National Industrial Strategy. The project seeks to advance innovation in applications such as thermal insulation, automotive parts, and construction materials. This will in turn drive industrial growth and sustainable development across the Kingdom.
Sadara CEO Fayez Al Sharef expressed his enthusiasm at the agreement, emphasizing its significance for the downstream sector through the introduction of high-performance products and applications that will support the local market and boost the national economy. Oasis Pioneers’ Chairman Khaled Juffali said: “I am proud and excited to reach this milestone alongside the Oasis Pioneers team and our partners at Sadara. Recognizing this project as a vital part of the Kingdom’s National Industrial Strategy is exciting but also brings enormous responsibility. For the benefit of our country, region, partners, employees, and shareholders, my team and I will continue working to deliver a new national champion in our industrial sector successfully.”
This project will serve as a groundbreaking and transformative addition to the Kingdom’s manufacturing sector. It will strengthen production capabilities and replace imported products with the locally-produced unique specialty chemicals.
Sadara’s innovative product portfolio — introducing the first of its kind in the Kingdom — has positioned the company as a catalyst for attracting diverse investments to PlasChem Park. These strategic investments span key sectors: chemicals for oil and gas, building materials, paints, coatings, and personal and household care products. Creation of these new value chains will drive growth and innovation within the Kingdom’s manufacturing landscape.
By Karen M. Koenig | March 4, 2025 | 11:25 am CST
HIGH POINT, N.C. — New residential furniture orders rose 1% in December compared to the same period in 2023, according to the February issue of Furniture Insights, reversing the previous month’s decline. Approximately two-thirds of respondents reporting increased orders in December compared to the year prior.
However, compared to November 2024, December new orders dropped 15%, although that could include some seasonality due to the December holiday break, said noted Mark Laferriere, assurance partner at Smith Leonard, the accounting and consulting firm that produces the monthly report. New orders were also down for the year to date, by 1%.
December shipments were down 2% compared to 2023 figures, and also down 7% with November 2024. Year to date through December 2024, shipments were down 6% compared to 2023. Backlogs were down 8% compared to December 2023, but up 2% from November 2024 “as current shipments outpaced new orders during the last month.”
“Receivable levels were down 7% from November 2024, and down 3% from December 2023, both of which are materially in line with the respective shipment trends, given normal timing differences with collections,” Laferriere noted. “Inventories were consistent with November 2024 and down 2% from December 2023, which are in line with prior periods and current operational
levels,” he added.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales at furniture and home furnishings stores were down 1.7% in January compared to the previous month but up 3.7% from January 2024, according to the January Furniture Insights.
Tariffs, both existing and potential, continue to impact American business and spending, making projections difficult, Laferriere said. “While the housing data was mixed, consumer confidence really took a hit this month, so it will be interesting to see whether this is the start of an enduring trend or hopefully just a temporary blip that will reverse itself once much the current uncertainty is resolved.”
He added, “The Home Furnishings Sentiment Index published by Furniture Today was similarly mixed, but reflected long-term optimism for the industry, which is consistent with what we’ve heard from many we’ve spoken to recently.
“And the furniture industry does seem to be gaining a little momentum based upon recent industry reports, year-over-year retail data, as well as our own survey’s modest increase in new orders this month. However, it remains to be seen the extent these economic policies will have on the 2025 outlook for the industry and beyond.”
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