Dear Shareholders,
What makes a company successful?
Its employees! They make the difference, with their expertise, commitment and experience. More than 16,000 dedicated colleagues work for WACKER worldwide. They come from different cultures and operate in numerous markets and varied industries. They all share a desire to improve everyone’s quality of life around the globe. By supplying innovative products and solutions. That is the purpose that drives us all at WACKER. It is how we add value for our customers and shareholders.
Our actions are based on our corporate values. We reaffirmed them in 2024: integrity and example – performance and passion – vision and openness – collaboration and appreciation. These values are firmly rooted in WACKER’s DNA. They describe what WACKER stands for. This is not something recent, but has always been the case. They are our compass. They help us make the right decisions. In an increasingly complex, volatile and interconnected world, this guiding framework is more important than ever.
As we all know, a team’s true strength shows itself in headwinds. Last year, these headwinds were still strong. Demand was weak in many customer sectors and competition was intense. There were no economic tailwinds. In this challenging market environment, the WACKER team performed well – although, as expected, we did not beat the previous year’s sales and earnings figures. In 2024, we posted sales of €5.7 billion and EBITDA of €763 million.
>
0
dedicated colleagues work for WACKER worldwide. They all share a desire to improve everyone’s quality of life around the globe.
Many companies curbed their production, especially in the construction and automotive sectors – key customer groups for our chemical products. So, it was particularly remarkable that our chemical divisions – Silicones and Polymers – maintained their overall sales level in 2024, with their total earnings even exceeding the previous year’s figure.
Our biotechnology division performed well last year, too. We increased not only its sales, but also its earnings year over year. In 2024, an important milestone for this division was the opening of our new mRNA competence center, which set the foundation for further growth.
Our strategy is intact. In the medium and long term, we will continue to benefit from global megatrends.
At the Polysilicon division, business was a mixture of sunshine and rain last year. On the one hand, our hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon, which is so important for us strategically, developed positively. On the other, our solar-grade polysilicon declined markedly. This was mainly caused by massive overcapacity in China and by lower prices. Germany’s persistently high energy costs had a negative impact, too, as did a general market uncertainty, triggered by discussions about US anti-dumping tariffs on solar imports from some Southeast Asian countries.
To meet the challenges of continued market weakness, we intensified our focus on efficiency and cost discipline last year. Our measures are proving effective. As a result, we improved our earnings trend in 2024 through savings from ongoing efficiency programs. That was another strong team achievement.
In 2024, our net income was €261 million. It is important for us that our shareholders participate in this result. The Executive and Supervisory Boards will therefore propose a dividend of €2.50 per share for 2024. This means we would be distributing around 50 percent of our net income for the year, which is further proof of WACKER’s reliability!
WACKER is well positioned for the future – financially, strategically and on the personnel front.
We are also progressing reliably on the sustainability front. And will not deviate from our path. Our targets are clear. They include a clear commitment to decarbonization: by 2030, we intend to halve our absolute CO2 emissions relative to 2020. We have already saved about 30 percent of our CO2 emissions. And we want to achieve net zero by 2045 at the latest. To this end, we have defined a clear reduction path, which is in line with the 1.5 °C target set by the Paris Agreement. In 2024, this path was validated by the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This makes us one of the first chemical companies worldwide with a validated net zero target. We see this as an honor and an extra incentive.
Our aim, though, is not only to improve our own carbon footprint. For us, sustainability is also a business case. By offering our customers innovative, sustainable solutions, we aim to support them with their own sustainability targets. Take the following example: we will soon provide customers with a detailed carbon footprint for all our products. Completely automated! This shows that WACKER is part of the solution. We accept responsibility and will not accept the status quo.
Our investment spending reflects this. In 2024, we invested €666 million in total. By doing so, we are creating the basis for our future growth. For example, in 2024, we laid the cornerstone for a new site in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. As early as this year, we will start producing silicone specialties there to meet key megatrends – from electromobility and healthcare to the energy transition. And at our largest site, Burghausen, we are expanding our capacities for hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon. This material is chiefly needed for powerful chips that are used, for example, in the artificial intelligence sector.
Those were just a few examples. We invest in promising markets all over the world. Because our solutions are in demand everywhere. In 2024, we generated 84 percent of our sales outside of Germany. Clearly, we are well positioned to seize global growth opportunities.
In the short term, though, general market conditions will remain challenging. At least, that is our assumption for now. So, we will intensify our focus on measures for profitable sales growth, cost discipline and cash flow. For 2025, we expect Group sales of between €6.1 billion and €6.4 billion. EBITDA is likely to come in between €700 million and €900 million.
Although current conditions are challenging, the good news is that our strategy is intact. For the medium and long term, we will continue to benefit from global megatrends. Sustainability, digitalization, health and smart construction are among the key drivers of our business. So, we will maintain our long-term growth targets. We still aim, by 2030, to achieve sales of €10 billion and an EBITDA margin above 20 percent. We reaffirmed this at our Capital Markets Day in 2024. We also clearly stated then that we will concentrate more on improving margins than on volume growth.
We want to create added value – for our customers and our shareholders.
Strategically, we aim to intensify our chemical divisions’ focus on specialty business even more. For example, high-tech silicones for the energy and mobility transition, or polymers for smart, sustainable construction. At Biosolutions, the division’s priorities are customized biotech products and next-generation medicines. At the Polysilicon division, we are increasingly focusing on the production of hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon.
At the same time, we are steadily boosting our productivity and efficiency and cutting our costs. Key levers for this include an even more active approach to portfolio management and additional digitalization and automation measures. Financial soundness, after all, is essential for our success and, thus, for achieving our long-term targets.
You can be sure that we will use our potential. WACKER is well positioned for the future – financially, strategically and on the personnel front. Together, we will continue working on tomorrow’s solutions. With expertise, customer proximity and innovative strength. It is what the WACKER team stands for around the world.
Our aim is for WACKER’s share price to reflect our potential. This did not happen in 2024. Which was not satisfactory. Our mission is clear: we want to create added value – for our customers and for you, our shareholders. We adhere strongly to this principle. Because we are WACKER – reliable, resolute and ambitious.
Thank you very much for your trust.
Dr. Christian Hartel
President & CEO of Wacker Chemie AG
