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On February 27, BASF released its financial figures for 2025. In fiscal year 2025, the BASF Group operated in a global market environment characterized by uncertainty and high volatility, facing significant adverse factors. “Therefore, we focus primarily on the matters within the ‘Strategies for Success’ corporate strategy framework that are under our control. ”Dr. Markus Kamieth, member of the Executive Board of the BASF Group, said this while together with Dr. Dirk Elvermann, the Chief Financial Officer, announcing the financial figures for 2025. In fiscal year 2025, BASF Group’s sales amounted to 59.7 billion euros, compared to 61.4 billion euros in the previous year. Negative exchange rate effects have a significant impact on sales, primarily affecting the US dollar, the Chinese yuan, and the Brazilian real. Earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization were 5.6 billion euros, compared to 6.2 billion euros in the previous year. In 2025, the total amount of special items in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was negative 936 million euros. The special costs resulting from the restructuring measures amounted to 937 million euros; these costs are primarily related to the ongoing cost-cutting initiatives, especially those aimed at the Ludwigshafen facility. EBIT amounted to 1.6 billion euros, a decrease of 176 million euros compared to the previous year. The total amount of depreciation and amortization in EBIT was 4 billion euros (2024: 4.4 billion euros). Net income increased to 1.6 billion euros in 2025 (2024: 1.3 billion euros). This is mainly attributed to the year-on-year increase in net returns from equity investments, resulting from higher earnings from non-core business companies accounted for using the equity method. The special net gain of 1.3 billion euros (2024: 400 million euros) was also a key factor driving the increase in net income; it was primarily related to compensation guaranteed by the federal government to WintershallDea for assets seized in Russia. In 2025, cash flow from operating activities was 5.6 billion euros, a decrease of 1.3 billion euros compared to the previous year. In the growth of net income in 2025, non-cash items and reclassification items increased significantly compared to the previous year. Depreciation and amortization expenses are lower than in 2024. Compared to the previous year, changes in positions in precious metals trading resulted in a significant amount of capital being tied up. In 2025, cash flows from investing activities were negative 3.2 billion euros, compared to negative 5.1 billion euros in the previous year. This significant improvement is mainly due to a reduction in expenditures on real estate, fixtures and equipment, as well as intangible assets; such expenditures dropped from 6.2 billion euros in the previous year to 4.3 billion euros in 2025. Free cash flow refers to the cash flow generated from operating activities, after deducting expenditures on property, plant and equipment as well as intangible assets. Affected by the decline in capital expenditures, free cash flow improved significantly. Free cash flow was 1.3 billion euros in 2025, and 748 million euros in 2024. A dividend of 2.25 euros per share is proposed for 2025. From 2025 to 2028, BASF plans to distribute at least 12 billion euros to its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Specifically, the company aims to pay a dividend of at least 2.25 euros per share each year, which translates to approximately 2 billion euros distributed to shareholders annually. A dividend of 2.25 euros per share is proposed for 2025 (dividend for fiscal year 2024: 2.25 euros per share). Given the cash inflows that have been obtained and are expected to be obtained, particularly the cash flows resulting from the adjustments to its business portfolio, BASF decided in late October 2025 to repurchase up to 1.5 billion euros worth of shares between November 2025 and the end of June 2026. This early-phase stock repurchase is part of the announced stock repurchase plan, which calls for the repurchase of at least 4 billion euros worth of shares by the end of 2028. Dr. Dirk Elvermann, BASF’s Chief Financial Officer, said the company will continue to strengthen its balance sheet: “By the end of 2025, we have reduced our net debt to 18.3 billion euros.” By 2026, we will use a large portion of the cash generated by the adjustments to our business portfolio to further strengthen our balance sheet. ”He said that the maturity structure of the outstanding bonds will enable BASF to reduce its net debt more significantly this year, thereby strengthening the company’s current A-rated credit rating. BASF has accelerated the implementation of its existing cost-reduction plans. By the end of 2025, the company had achieved annual cost savings of around 1.7 billion euros, which is 100 million euros more than the initial target. By the end of 2026, the company expects to achieve annual cost savings of 2.3 billion euros, up from the previously estimated 2.1 billion euros. At the same time, the company expects the total one-time cost reduction to amount to 1.9 billion euros. Between December 2023 and December 2025, the number of senior managers at BASF decreased by 11%. The workforce decreased by about 4,800 employees, excluding the approximately 1,000 new hires at the new integrated facility in China. Looking ahead to 2026, BASF’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, excluding special items, are expected to range between 6.2 billion euros and 7.0 billion euros (6.6 billion euros in 2025). Profits in the nutrition and care, as well as chemicals business segments, are expected to increase significantly ； Industrial solutions are expected to see a modest increase in profits. The Materials and Agricultural Solutions business segment is expected to see a slight decline in profits due to exchange rate effects. In the field of surface treatment technology, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are expected to decline significantly, excluding special items. The main reason for this is that the one-time positive impact from the environmental catalysts and metal solutions business in 2025 is not expected to occur again in 2026. BASF’s free cash flow is expected to be between 1.5 billion euros and 2.3 billion euros (1.3 billion euros in 2025). This forecast is based on operating cash flows estimated to be between 4.9 billion euros and 5.7 billion euros, after deducting expenditures of around 3.4 billion euros for property, plant and equipment as well as intangible assets. The group’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2026 are expected to range between 17.2 million tons and 18.2 million tons. There was an increase compared to the previous year, mainly due to the commissioning of the integrated base in Zhanjiang, China, while the production volume at the other bases remained relatively stable. BASF will adopt targeted emission reduction measures to address this growth, including improving energy efficiency, optimizing production processes, and continuing to transition to renewable energy for power supply. BASF’s outlook is based on the following projections for the global economic environment in 2026: global GDP growth of 2.7%. The global industrial production growth rate was 2.3%, while the global chemical production growth rate was 2.4%. The average exchange rate of the euro against the dollar was 1 euro to 1.20 dollars, and the average price of Brent crude oil was 65 dollars per barrel.