Chemical maker BASF today said it has registered over two-fold growth in net income at 1.1 billion euros ($1.51 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2010, driven by strong sales in Asia and robust performance of its chemical unit.
In the year-ago period, the company had a net income of 455 million euros, Germany-based BASF said in a statement.
The company's sales grew to 16.42 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2010 from 13.17 billion euros in the year-ago period.
BASF, which has a significant presence in India, attributed the strong quarter numbers to the recovery in the global economy and strong performance of emerging countries including India.
"BASF achieved record sales and earnings in 2010. The chemical business in particular benefited from the strong economic recovery in 2010, which was more dynamic that we had initially anticipated," the company said.
Besides, the company proposed a 2.20 euros dividend for 2010, up from 1.70 euros in 2009.
In terms of geographical earning, Asia Pacific was the best performer with the company sales rising by 35.1% to 3.03 billion euros followed by South America, Africa and West Asia where its sales jumped by 33.7% to 1.12 billion euros.
Besides, North America's sales was 32.6% higher than the year-ago period, while in Europe it went up by 18.2%.
During this quarter, sales of plastics units rose by 26%, which the company attributed to the recovery in the automotive industry.
For the full year, the firm reported a net profit of 4.56 billion euros, up from 1.4 billion euros in 2009.
Looking ahead, BASF expects a "significant sales growth" in 2011.