FRANKFURT, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The German chemical giant BASF recorded a slight increase in its 2024 earnings despite a contraction in sales, according to its preliminary financial results released on Friday.

In 2024, BASF's sales declined to 65.3 billion euros (67.9 billion U.S. dollars), while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) before special items rose slightly to 7.9 billion euros, up from 7.7 billion euros in 2023.

This reflects a 2 percent increase in EBITDA before special items for the BASF Group.

"BASF showed very strong performance again in 2024," said Markus Kamieth, chairman of the company's Board of Executive Directors.

As part of a cost-cutting program announced last year, BASF aims to achieve annual savings of 2.1 billion euros by the end of 2026. In line with these efforts, the company cut jobs and halted production at certain plants in 2024.

For 2025, BASF expects EBITDA before special items to increase further, reaching between 8.0 billion and 8.4 billion euros.

In September 2024, Kamieth revealed at the company's annual meeting that BASF would sharpen its focus on core business areas while selling off underperforming divisions.

The strategy aims to unlock the financial value from noncore businesses and enable BASF to refocus its core activities on sustainable products made from recycled or renewable materials.

"We are at a turning point as a company. We are facing a moment of truth," Kamieth said. (1 euro = 1.04 U.S. dollar) Enditem

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