Net Assets
|
December 31, 2023 |
December 31, 2022 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Million € |
% |
Million € |
% |
Intangible assets |
12,216 |
15.8 |
13,273 |
15.8 |
Property, plant and equipment |
24,080 |
31.1 |
22,967 |
27.3 |
Integral investments accounted for using the equity method |
2,054 |
2.7 |
2,356 |
2.8 |
Non-integral investments accounted for using the equity method |
4,518 |
5.8 |
4,645 |
5.5 |
Other financial assets |
1,099 |
1.4 |
1,120 |
1.3 |
Deferred tax assets |
617 |
0.8 |
880 |
1.0 |
Other receivables and miscellaneous assets |
1,339 |
1.7 |
1,810 |
2.2 |
Noncurrent assets |
45,923 |
59.3 |
47,050 |
55.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
Inventories |
13,876 |
17.9 |
16,028 |
19.0 |
Accounts receivable, trade |
10,414 |
13.5 |
12,055 |
14.3 |
Other receivables and miscellaneous assets |
4,504 |
5.8 |
6,591 |
7.8 |
Marketable securities |
53 |
. |
232 |
0.3 |
Cash and cash equivalents |
2,624 |
3.4 |
2,516 |
3.0 |
Current assets |
31,472 |
40.7 |
37,422 |
44.4 |
Total assets |
77,395 |
100.0 |
84,472 |
100.0 |
Assets
At a glance
- Decrease in total assets of €7.1 billion, mainly due to lower working capital
- Noncurrent assets slightly below prior-year figure at €45.9 billion
Total assets amounted to €77,395 million as of December 31, 2023, €7,077 million below the prior year-end figure. Lower current assets were the main reason for the decline.
Noncurrent assets declined by €1,127 million compared with December 31, 2022, to €45,923 million. The decrease of intangible assets amounted to €1,056 million and was mainly attributable to amortization of €612 million and impairments of €267 million. Currency effects of €291 million also contributed to the decline. Additions of €142 million had an offsetting effect.
Property, plant and equipment increased by €1,113 million, mainly due to additions of €5,864 million, particularly in connection with the construction of our Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. Depreciation amounted to €4,062 million and included impairments of €883 million. A currency effect of €555 million counteracted the increase in property, plant and equipment.
Compared with the end of the previous year, the carrying amounts of integral investments accounted for using the equity method declined by €302 million to €2,054 million. This resulted primarily from a lower carrying amount of BASF-YPC Company Ltd., Nanjing, China, due to dividend payments and currency effects.
The carrying amounts of non-integral shareholdings accounted for using the equity method as of December 31, 2023, were €127 million below the prior year-end figure, in particular due to the decline in the carrying amount of Wintershall Dea to €4,251 million (previous year: €4,364 million).
The €263 million decrease in deferred tax assets largely resulted from valuation allowances on deferred taxes in Germany.
Noncurrent other receivables and miscellaneous assets amounted to €1,339 million, €471 million below the figure of December 31, 2022, which was mainly attributable to lower defined benefit assets.
Due to our active working capital management, current assets decreased by €5,950 million compared with December 31, 2022, in particular as a result of the reduction in inventories by €2,152 million. All segments contributed to this, in particular Materials, Nutrition & Care and Chemicals.
We reduced trade accounts receivable by €1,641 million compared with the previous year, primarily in the Surface Technologies, Materials and Nutrition & Care segments.
Other current receivables and miscellaneous assets were €2,087 million below the prior-year figure, which was mainly attributable to lower precious metal trading items and lower tax refund claims.
The value of marketable securities decreased by €179 million compared with December 31, 2022, while cash and cash equivalents increased by €109 million to €2,624 million.