Wacker releases Q2 figures

19 July 2023

 Wacker Chemie AG has published its preliminary figures for Q2 2023. The company now expects to post second-quarter Group sales of €1.75bn. EBITDA amounts to €255M.

Based on current estimations, Wacker has modified its forecast for 2023. Accordingly, the company expects that Group sales are likely to come in between €6.5bn and €6.8bn (previous guidance: between €7bn and €7.5bn). Full-year EBITDA for 2023 is now expected to be between €800M and €1.0bn (previous guidance: between €1.1bn and €1.4bn).

These figures are below current average market expectations, with Group sales reaching €7.0bn and EBITDA €1.1bn (source: Vara Research, July 12, 2023). ROCE is projected to be below the cost of capital (previous guidance: above the cost of capital, substantially lower than last year). 

“Our expectations have declined primarily due to ongoing weak customer demand in a large number of industries, continuing inventory-reduction measures by customers and the lower year-over-year prices for many of our products,” said Christian Hartel, President and CEO of Wacker. “Numerous market experts anticipated stronger demand in the second half-year – an assumption that was reflected in our previous forecast.” However, Wacker, like so many other chemical companies, has yet to see a recovery.

Changes to the forecast for 2023 are mainly driven by performance at the WACKER SILICONES and WACKER POLYSILICON business divisions. 

According to preliminary figures, sales at WACKER SILICONES came in at €700M, down by 25% yr-on-yr. The

Based on preliminary figures, WACKER POLYMERS generated sales of €415M in the second quarter, down 25% compared with the same period last year.

According to preliminary figures, WACKER POLYSILICON achieved sales of €515M during the second quarter. Although sales declined by 10% yr-on-yr, growth of 16% was registered compared with the first quarter.

Based on preliminary figures, WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS generated sales in the amount of €90M during the second quarter, a slight increase yr-on-yr.

Wacker will publish its interim report for the first half of 2023 on July 27, 2023. 

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