Wacker Chemia reports lower sales for 2024, forecasts higher sales for 2025

Munich, Germany – With the presentation of its annual report, Wacker Chemie AG reported that its 2024 sales and earnings fell versus the previous year due to persistently weak market conditions. WACKER’s sales totaled €5.72 billion, 11 percent less than in 2023 (€6.40 billion). This development was driven primarily by lower prices and much lower volumes at the Polysilicon division. By contrast, sales in the chemical divisions matched the previous year’s performance despite headwinds. The biotechnology division reported a year-over-year increase in sales.

The Group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) amounted to €763 million in the reporting period (2023: €824 million), down 7 percent. This is due to lower prices, particularly for solar-grade polysilicon, but also to persistently high energy costs in Germany, coupled with lower plant-utilization rates in some cases as a result of the decline in volumes. Savings from ongoing efficiency measures buoyed earnings.

Due to the factors described above, EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) decreased 28 percent to €290 million (2023: €405 million). Depreciation and amortization came to €473 million, higher than in 2023 (€419 million) due to the commissioning of new production facilities in Germany and China. Net income for 2024 came in at €261 million (2023: €327 million).

WACKER’s long-standing dividend policy is to distribute about 50 percent of net income for the year to shareholders. The Executive and Supervisory Boards will therefore propose a dividend of €2.50 per share at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Based on the number of dividend-bearing shares as per December 31, 2024, the cash dividend corresponds to a payout of €124 million.

2024: Good performance in a weak market environment – “2024 was a challenging year for the chemicals industry as a whole. We were faced with weak demand in many of our customer sectors, with many of our customers in the construction and automotive industries, in particular, curbing their production. WACKER performed well in this weak market environment,” said President & CEO Christian Hartel on Wednesday in Munich. “Despite headwinds, our chemical divisions achieved sales at the previous year’s level and earnings in total in these divisions even exceeded the prior-year figure. Sales and earnings in our biotech division were up year over year,” he continued. “It was only the Polysilicon division that painted a mixed picture. Our solar-grade polysilicon business has declined primarily due to excess capacity in China. What is more, the debate in this area surrounding US anti-dumping tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia unsettled the markets considerably. By contrast, our hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon business performed very well. This is an area in which we are the global market leader, and we are continuing to expand both our capabilities and our capacities.”

2025: Business environment remains challenging, but WACKER remains on track – Regarding WACKER’s expectations for the year ahead, Hartel explained: “The market environment will remain challenging. The weak economy is still impacting many customers’ order trends, with ongoing reluctance to spend in the construction industry, for example. By contrast, demand for our silicones, especially for specialty products, and semiconductor-grade polysilicon continues to show a very positive development. We expect to see higher volumes in these areas this year.”

Sales in the first two months of this year were roughly on a par with the previous year. In addition, WACKER expects to report Group sales at the prior-year level in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2024: €1.5 billion), while our polysilicon business will be lower than last year. The company expects to report EBITDA of around €135 million for the first quarter (Q1 2024: €172 million).

Looking at the year as a whole, WACKER expects its business to grow in all regions despite an ongoing challenging environment. Sales are forecast at between €6.1 billion and €6.4 billion, while EBITDA should amount to between €700 million and €900 million. The company expects to see slightly lower selling prices and considerably higher volumes.

Hartel stressed that WACKER would continue to focus on cost discipline and on increasing efficiency given the sustained weak market environment. “We are driving forward a number of targeted projects to streamline structures and optimize processes. Digitalization and automation initiatives will help us to achieve this,” explained the CEO.

Hartel remains optimistic as regards the company’s medium and long-term development. “We have confirmed our strategy. We are in a strong financial position and are benefiting from global megatrends. Whether it is renewable energy, electromobility or digitalization, these trends will continue to drive our business.” He added that going forward, WACKER would be focused more on improving margins than on volume growth. “Specifically, this means concentrating more on our efficiency and driving the expansion of our specialty business. By specialty business, we mean products and solutions that offer our customers clear added value thanks to their outstanding properties. They are generally developed on a customer-specific basis, have a greater depth of added value and achieve higher margins,” he explained.