Oil & Gas Innovation Summer 2020 Digital | Page 22

NEWS - EUROPE
Engie Announces Today Its Commitment to
Embrace the B Team’s Responsible Tax Principles.
The B Team is a non-profit organisation bringing together business
and civil society leaders from around the world, with the aim of
promoting a more sustainable economy with a positive impact on
planet and people.
Launched at the Taxation and Sustainable Development Goals
conference at the United Nations New York headquarters in February
2018, The B Team’s responsible tax principles articulate the best policies
in seven key areas: accountability and governance, compliance, business
structure, relationships with tax authorities, seeking and accepting tax
incentives, supporting effective tax systems, and transparency.
ENGIE is thus confirming its commitment to contribute to best tax
practices and to encourage the emergence of responsible taxation
around the world.
Judith Hartmann, Executive Vice President, CFO and Member of
ENGIE’s executive leadership team, says: “As a global player in the
energy transition, ENGIE implements its values of responsibility
and exemplarity towards society and the planet. The Group has
made the transition to a carbon-neutral economy the core of its
purpose. Its corporate responsibility must obviously be expressed to
all its stakeholders. Thus, ENGIE’s tax policy responds to a renewed
requirement to reconcile economic performance with the fair
application of tax law in all the countries where it operates.” •
BASF Group: Operating Result in the Second
Quarter of 2020 Above Market Expectations
BASF has released preliminary figures on business development in
the second quarter of 2020. Sales declined by 12.4 percent in the
second quarter of 2020 to €12,680 million (Q2 2019: €14,478 million).
EBIT before special items, which reflects the development of the BASF
Group’s operating business in the second quarter of 2020, amounted to
an expected €226 million, above market expectations and in the range
indicated by BASF, but considerably below the figure for the prior-year
quarter (Q2 2019: €995 million). The decline in EBIT before special
items is the result of significantly lower earnings in the Materials,
Surface Technologies, Chemicals and Industrial Solutions segments
compared with the prior-year quarter. This was mainly driven by lower
demand from the automotive industry – the company’s most important
customer industry. Year-on-year earnings growth in the Nutrition
& Care segment and in Other had an offsetting effect. Earnings in
the Agricultural Solutions segment were at the level of the prior-year
quarter.
The BASF Group’s EBIT in the second quarter of 2020 amounted to an
expected €59 million, considerably below the figure for the prior-year
quarter (Q2 2019: €507 million).
The BASF Group’s net income is expected to amount to minus €878
million due to a non-cash-effective impairment of the shareholding
in Wintershall Dea, considerably below current analyst estimates and
the figure for the prior-year quarter (Q2 2019: €5,954 million). The
impairment of around €800 million is the result of lower oil and gas price
forecasts and changed reserve estimates. In the prior-year quarter, net
income included a book gain of €5,684 million on the deconsolidation
of Wintershall following the merger of Wintershall and DEA as of May
1, 2019. •
Aker Solutions’ Second Quarter of 2020 Developed
Positively
Aker Solutions ASA: Improved Financial Results in the Second
Quarter.
Aker Solutions’ second quarter of 2020 developed positively compared
to expectations earlier this year when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
This has resulted in significant improvement of revenue, earnings and
order intake in the quarter, due to faster-than-expected implementation
of cost-saving measures, higher activity than first anticipated on existing
projects and several new contract awards.
In the second quarter, the company expects operating revenue of about
NOK 5.4 billion and EBITDA of about NOK 230 million. Excluding
special items, EBITDA is expected to be about NOK 350 million. Special
items mainly relate to restructuring costs of about NOK 115 million as
the company adjusted the organization following lower activity levels.
The result improved as Aker Solutions made good progress on its
previously announced NOK 1 billion cost saving program. The company
also experienced increased activity in existing projects during the
quarter, as the company and operators managed to keep activity levels
up, despite restrictions imposed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sanctioning activity increased after Norwegian authorities introduced
temporary tax incentives for oil and gas companies to start new
projects. Aker Solutions won several new contracts for projects on the
Norwegian Continental Shelf in June, and the order intake is expected
to be about NOK 7 billion in the quarter.
Order intake in the second quarter includes about NOK 2.5 billion for
the Breidablikk and Askeladd projects awarded by Equinor, excluding
options. The company also experienced a significantly higher than
anticipated order intake growth across several ongoing projects and
frame agreements, particularly in the Brownfield area. •
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