Sales at WACKER POLYMERS decreased slightly in 2013, declining 2.4 percent to € 978.7 million (2012: € 1.0 billion). The drop was due to slower dispersions business. In dispersible polymer powders, sales growth from higher volumes was held back by lower average selling prices and negative exchange-rate effects. Raw-material costs were slightly lower than in the previous year. The substitution business with VAE dispersions, especially in the packaging industry, did not develop as positively as it had in 2012.

Sales trends varied across the individual regions. WACKER POLYMERS posted sales declines in Germany, the rest of Europe and the Americas. In Asia, though, sales rose by over 10 percent. India was where we achieved the biggest increase of almost 30 percent.

EBITDA was stable at € 147.8 million (2012: € 147.4 million). The EBITDA margin rose to 15.1 percent (2012: 14.7 percent).

Start-Up of New Production Facilities

Investments decreased to € 36.8 million from € 58.8 million in 2012. Most of the expenditures were for expansion projects in Calvert City (USA) and Nanjing (China). At Nanjing, a new plant for VAE dispersions with an annual output of 60,000 metric tons started up in April. WACKER POLYMERS now has a total production capacity in China of 120,000 metric tons per year. Additionally, we increased capacity at Calvert City (USA) by 30,000 metric tons.

The number of employees at the division rose slightly to 1,377 as of December 31, 2013 (Dec. 31, 2012: 1,365).

Key Data: WACKER POLYMERS