WACKER POLYMERS

WACKER POLYMERS continued its upward trend in 2012. For the first time ever, its sales surpassed the billion-euro mark. At €1.0 billion, sales were 8.1 percent higher than in the previous year (2011: €928.1 million). Business was lifted by increased dispersion and polymer-powder volumes, by partially higher product prices, and by positive exchange-rate effects. Raw-material costs stayed at the prior-year level. Performance remained robust in the carpet and packaging markets, where WACKER’s VAE dispersions are increasingly replacing styrene-butadiene and styrene-acrylate. Construction-sector sales also rose again.

In its regional markets, WACKER POLYMERS increased its sales across the board, except for Germany, where sales fell by 3.6 percent. In the Americas, sales gathered substantial momentum, mainly due to the substitution of materials in the carpet and packaging industries. Sales in this region rose by more than 20 percent. In percentage terms, India was where WACKER POLYMERS recorded its highest sales growth.

EBITDA was even stronger than sales, climbing 31.8 percent year on year to €147.4 million (2011: €111.8 million). This increase stemmed from higher volumes, rationalization, and positive pricing and exchange-rate effects. The EBITDA margin reached 14.7 percent (2011: 12.0 percent).

Capacity Expansion for Future Growth

Investments – which increased to €58.8 million after €30.4 million in 2011 – are focused on providing new capacities for future growth. Most of the expenditures were for expansion projects in Nanjing (China) and in Ulsan (South Korea). At both production sites, we are expanding our VAE dispersions facilities. This project will add 40,000 metric tons per year at Ulsan and increase Nanjing’s annual capacity from 60,000 to 120,000 metric tons.

The number of employees at the division fell slightly to 1,365 as of December 31, 2012 (December 31, 2011: 1,412).