German chemical giant BASF said Friday its profits had fallen in the second quarter of 2025 and slashed its outlook for the year as US tariffs weighed on global economic activity.
Between April and June, BASF recorded a net profit of some 80 million euros ($94 million), the group said in a statement.
That was well below last year鈥檚 second-quarter figure of around 430 million euros and average analyst expectations of around 410 million euros, BASF said. The drop in profits was due to 鈥榟igher income taxes and lower contributions鈥� from BASF鈥檚 equity investments.
BASF鈥檚 operating profit before special items鈥攁 closely watched measure of underlying performance鈥攁lso fell to 1.77 billion euros. That was down from 1.96 billion euros in the second quarter of 2024.
Revenues were also down 2.1 percent for the same three-month period, falling to 15.77 billion euros from 16.11 billion the previous year.
The drop was due to negative currency effects and lower prices for products, particularly in its chemicals division, BASF said.
The Ludwigshafen-based group said it was lowering its outlook for the rest of the year 鈥榙ue to ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties鈥�.
It now expected its operating profit for 2025 to sit between 7.3 and 7.7 billion euros, having previously given a range of between eight and 8.4 billion euros.
Global economic growth was expected to be lower than previously expected thanks to 鈥楿S tariffs announced in early April and the resulting uncertainties in the market鈥�, BASF said.
As such, 鈥榤arket demand for chemical products will likely grow less than previously expected鈥�.
The tariff barrage unleashed by US President Donald Trump also had a significant negative impact on the value of the dollar relative to the euro, BASF noted.
Trump announced sweeping 鈥榬eciprocal鈥� tariffs on imports into the United States from across the world in April before swiftly announcing a 90-day pause.
The US president has since extended the deadline to August 1 and has put pressure on trading partners to strike deals to avoid punitive tariff rates.
BASF鈥檚 full second-quarter results will be published on July 30.
