7 – Other operating income

Income from the adjustment and reversal of provisions that had been recognized in other operating expenses was largely related to closures and restructuring measures, employee obligations, risks from lawsuits and damage claims, and various other items as part of the normal course of business. Provisions were reversed or adjusted if the circumstances on the balance sheet date were such that utilization was no longer expected, or expected to a lesser extent.

Revenue from miscellaneous revenue-generating activities primarily included income from rentals, catering operations, cultural events and logistics services.

Income from foreign currency and hedging transactions pertained to the foreign currency translation of receivables and payables as well as of currency derivatives and other hedging transactions. The decline compared with the previous year was attributable to the cessation of crude oil swaps to hedge price risks from gas purchase and sales contracts due to the completion of the asset swap with Gazprom.

Income from the translation of financial statements in foreign currencies contained gains from the translation of companies whose local currency is different from the functional currency.

Gains on divestitures and the disposal of fixed assets in the amount of €349 million resulted from the sale of the industrial coatings business to AkzoNobel, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Income of €93 million arose from the sale of the global polyolefin catalysts business to W.R. Grace & Co., Columbia, Maryland. Further income of €83 million resulted from the disposal of BASF’s OLED intellectual property assets to UDC Ireland Limited, Dublin, Ireland. Income of €72 million pertained to real estate divestitures in several countries. The previous year had particularly contained income in the amount of €314 million from the asset swap with Gazprom. In addition, the sale of the global textile chemicals business to Archroma Textiles S.à r.l., Luxembourg, resulted in income of €71 million. Additional income of €39 million was attributable to the sale of the white expandable polystyrene (EPS) business to Alpek S.A.B. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico. Furthermore, income in the amount of €37 million arose from the sale of buildings in China and India as well as income in the amount of €29 million from the sale of the custom synthesis business and parts of the active pharmaceutical ingredients portfolio to Siegfried Holding AG, Zofingen, Switzerland.

Income from the reversal of valuation allowances for business-related receivables resulted mainly from the settlement of customer-related receivables for which a valuation allowance had been recorded.

Income under Other included government grants and government assistance from several countries amounting to €156 million in 2016 and €135 million in 2015. In both years, these were primarily attributable to price compensation from the Argentinian government for gas producers, which was introduced in connection with the New Gas Price Scheme (NGPS) in response to the lower, partly locally regulated gas prices.

Further income resulted from refunds and compensation payments in the amount of €291 million in 2016 and €254 million in 2015. These were predominantly due in both years to insurance refunds arising from a plant outage at the Ellba C.V. joint operation in Moerdijk, Netherlands. The previous year had also included income from a one-off payment for a price revision relating to 2014 in the Oil & Gas segment as well as a one-off payment from Tellus Petroleum AS, Oslo, Norway, in connection with the intended sale of selected assets on the Norwegian continental shelf, which was not completed.

Moreover, income in both years was related to gains from precious metal trading, the reversal of impairments on property, plant and equipment, tax refunds, income from the adjustment of pension plans, and a number of additional items.