BASF Optimistic On Future With Good 1995 Start

German chemicals/pharmaceuticals giant BASF has made a promising start to the new year, with the first two months' net sales to third parties up 16% on the like, year-earlier period at 7.7 billion Deutschemarks ($5.49 billion), and improved earnings.

For 1994, the company reported sales of 43.7 billion marks ($31.1 billion), up 7.7%, and a 99.5% increase in pretax profits at 1.46 billion marks, as a result of structural adjustments and efficiency measures combined with renewed demand in important markets. However, most of the sales expansion came from outside the domestic market, according to Jurgen Strube, chairman of the board of executive directors, speaking to journalists in Ludwigshaven, Germany, last week.

Pharma Sales 2 Billion Marks Pharmaceuticals are still a rather small part of BASF's business, producing total turnover last year of 1.97 billion marks, a decrease of 1.3% on the previous year. Within this, subsidiary Knoll AG made sales of 1.05 billion marks, an increase of 2% and pretax operating profit of 42.6 million marks, compared with a loss the previous year. Moves are afoot to expand the pharmaceutical sector, and last year Knoll acquired the generics company Sagitta Arzneimittel GmbH.