BASF: Sales and earnings better than expected

Company announces preliminary third-quarter figures
Sales €12.8 billion, income from operations (EBIT) before special items €1.25 billion

Ludwigshafen, Germany – October 14, 2009 – BASF today announced first figures for the third quarter of 2009. Sales were €12.8 billion and thus 19% less than in the same period of 2008 and 2.4% more than in the second quarter of 2009. The preliminary figure for third-quarter income from operations (EBIT) before special items was €1.25 billion, 20% less than in the same period of 2008 and 9.5% more than in the second quarter of 2009. These figures exceed the consensus analysts’ estimates available to BASF. Furthermore, the integration of the former Ciba activities is proceeding faster than expected and higher special charges will therefore be included in the third quarter.

BASF will present its full third-quarter results including all earning figures at its Fall Conference Call on October 29, 2009.

The earnings improvement in the third quarter reflects BASF’s operational strength. Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE said: “We have the right strategy. We are seeing the effects of the extensive measures we implemented in good time to adjust capacity utilization rates and to reduce costs. The BASF team worldwide has performed extremely well.” Impulses for growth are coming from Asia, especially China, as well as from parts of South America. Overall, markets have stabilized at a low level.

Economic developments in the coming months remain difficult to predict. “Although the mood is slightly brighter and we are climbing out of the trough, the recovery remains slow and fragile,” said Hambrecht.

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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