S&P pulls BASF from watch

S&P said it affirmed BASF SE’s A ratings, removed them from CreditWatch with negative implications and assigned a negative outlook. The agency placed the rating on watch on March 25.

“We currently anticipate BASF’s EBIT before special items (company defined) to reach about €2.9 billion in 2020. This is about €1 billion less than our March 2020 forecast. The cut is notably due to the second-quarter dip in operational performance because of the adverse market conditions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the related containment measures and government-enforced lockdowns,” S&P said in a press release.

The outlook reflects the possibility S&P may lower the rating in the next 12 months.

“This stems from adverse market conditions, notably linked to the pandemic, the deterioration in auto markets, and the weakening of upstream chemicals margins. Notable, adjusted FFO to debt of around 27%, failing to recover from 2019 level, has put the rating under significant pressure,” the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.