LONDON-Germany-based chemicals major BASF will report sales of €17.9bn ($24.5bn) in the third quarter of 2011-up 13% year on year-according to forecasts from investment bank JP Morgan Cazenove, released on Friday.

Improved sales will be driven by revenue growth from the company's integrated Verbund production network, helped by the completed integration of personal care chemicals producer Cognis and strong price increases, the bank added.

BASF’s third-quarter net profit in 2010 jumped fivefold year on year to €1.25bn, as a result of a 23% surge in sales to €15.8bn.

"BASF's portfolio has altered significantly over recent years to create a high-return and highly cash-generative business, [with] vertical integration [that] should provide improved stability over medium-term margins, relative to its history," the bank said in an analyst note.

"However, the company remains exposed to many cyclical end-markets, and hence a shortfall in global growth would inevitably have a significant impact on demand for BASF’s products," it added.

BASF will report its third-quarter results on Thursday, 27 October.

In June last year, BASF announced its plans to acquire Cognis for an equity purchase price of €700m. The enterprise value – which included net financial debt and pension obligations – was €3.1bn.

($1 = €0.73)