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Wacker Chemie sales hit $6bn in 2017

MUNICH, March 13, 2018

Germany-based Wacker Chemie AG Group announced today that its sales reached €4.92 billion ($6.092 billion) in 2017, up six per cent year over year (2016: €4.63 billion).
 
The company met or surpassed its own projections for all its performance indicators in 2017, it said presenting its annual report.
 
The group’s net income for the year was €884.8 million (2016: €189.3 million). It included €634.7 million in income from discontinued operations from Q1 2017. This amount comprised both the gain associated with the deconsolidation of Siltronic as a Wacker Group segment and Siltronic’s net income in the first quarter of 2017, the company said.
 
The Munich-based chemical company announced that the rise was mainly due to higher volumes in chemicals and in polysilicon. As a result, Wacker more than compensated both for negative currency effects due to the euro’s strength against the US dollar and for prices that, on balance, were somewhat lower, it said.
 
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) totalled €1,014.1 million in 2017 (2016: €955.5 million). That was a year-over-year increase of six per cent and yielded an EBITDA margin of 20.6 percent (2016: 20.6 percent). This growth was mainly prompted by higher sales, by a very good operating performance, and by income of €40.0 million from the company’s stake in Siltronic. On the other hand, raw-material costs were higher year over year and dampened earnings.
 
In 2018, Wacker intends to continue the good performance of last year, despite strong currency headwinds. Currency effects and amendments to accounting standards are expected to reduce sales by an amount in the low-triple-digit millions. Nonetheless, Wacker aims to lift its full-year sales by a low-single-digit percentage, it said.
 
Group EBITDA is projected to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage compared with 2017. As for net income from continuing operations, Wacker expects a marked increase, it said.
 
During the first two months of the current year, Wakcer's chemical business performed well. Over this period, total chemical-division sales were clearly above the prior-year figure. On the other hand, polysilicon sales for the first two months were noticeably lower than a year ago because less material was available for sale as a result of the production shutdown at Charleston. 
 
For Q1 2018, Wacker expects total group sales to be on par with last year (Q1 2017: €1.22 billion). Group EBITDA in Q1 2018 is likely to be substantially higher than a year ago because earnings are supported by better prices for silicone products, by high plant utilisation, and by increased income from the stake in Siltronic AG, it said.
 
“Wacker's prospects remain bright,” said group CEO Rudolf Staudigl in Munich. “Demand is very high in all our business fields. Our chemical operations will continue to grow this year. In our polysilicon business, we currently lack Charleston’s output, but, in all likelihood, we can begin ramping up our facilities there in a few weeks’ time. All in all, group sales will not grow as dynamically this year as in 2017, but we expect earnings to rise markedly.” - TradeArabia News Service
 



Tags: Germany | Wacker Chemie |

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