BASF surprises with strong earnings

BASF has released promising preliminary financial results for 2020, a year overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The world’s largest chemical maker reported sales of $19.3 billion for the fourth quarter, an increase of 8.3% from the same quarter in 2019. Earnings before taxes and special items increased 32.2% over the year-earlier quarter, to $1.3 billion. The strong end to the year wasn’t enough to offset difficult second and third quarters, however. For the full year, BASF posted $71.6 billion in sales, a decline of $200 million from 2019. Earnings sank 23.3%, to $4.3 billion.