Earnings

Group sales total €5.49 billion, down 4 percent on prior-year level

In 2025, the WACKER Group posted lower sales than in the prior year, mainly due to lower volumes and prices in some cases, as well as negative currency effects. Excess capacity in China and uncertainty resulting from US anti-dumping tariffs continued to put pressure on the solar-grade polysilicon business. By contrast, the semiconductor-grade polysilicon business performed well. Sales at Polysilicon fell by 7 percent to €882.9 million (2024: €949.2 million) due to the factors referred to above. Silicones achieved annual sales of €2.73 billion (2024: €2.81 billion), down by 3 percent on 2024 due to negative volume/mix and currency effects. Sales at Polymers came in at €1.38 billion in 2025 (2024: €1.46 billion), down 6 percent due to lower sales volumes and prices as well as negative currency effects. Sales at Biosolutions fell by 4 percent to €360.4 million (2024: €374.9 million), also owing to a reduction in biopharmaceutical customer offtake.

For further information on the business divisions, please refer to the Segments section.

WACKER generated the majority of its sales outside of Germany. International sales came in at €4.56 billion (2024: €4.81 billion), which accounts for 83 percent of total sales (2024: 84 percent).

Further information can be found in the Regions section.

Group EBITDA at €426.7 million, with EBITDA margin at 7.8 percent

Group EBITDA declined by 43 percent year over year to total €426.7 million (2024: €743.6 million). In addition to the decline in sales, low plant-utilization rates had a negative impact on EBITDA. High energy costs in Germany, moreover, continued to impact earnings. EBITDA was also burdened by provisions set up for restructuring expenses as well as costs for measures already implemented in connection with the ongoing PACE cost-saving project totaling €102.6 million. At 7.8 percent, the EBITDA margin was lower than a year ago(2024: 13.0 percent).

For further information on the business divisions, please refer to the Segments section.

Year-over-year sales comparison (€ million)

At €-179.7 million, EBIT down considerably on prior year

Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) totaled €-179.7 million in the reporting period (2024: €270.9 million), yielding an EBIT margin of -3.3 percent (2024: 4.7 percent). In 2025, depreciation and amortization amounted to €606.4 million (2024: €472.7 million). This includes impairment losses of €102.3 (2024: €10.0 million), primarily related to goodwill in the Biosolutions division in the amount of €89.1 million. Impairment losses were also recognized on property, plant and equipment in our chemical divisions. Depreciation and amortization amounted to €504.1 million (2024: €462.7 million), with the increase due to the commissioning of new production facilities in Germany and China.

Cost of goods sold slightly above prior-year level

At €657.3 million, gross profit from sales was 33 percent lower year over year (2024: €968.7 million). The cost of goods sold reached €4.83 billion (2024: €4.74 billion). The gross margin dipped to 12.0 percent (2024: 17.2 percent). Despite the efficiency measures that were implemented, the gross margin was negatively impacted by low plant-utilization rates as a result of the decline in sales, by persistently high energy costs and by restructuring expenses of €86.9 million. The Group’s cost-of-sales ratio rose accordingly to 88 percent (2024: 83 percent).

Functional costs at prior-year level

Other functional costs (selling, R&D and general administrative expenses) increased year over year by 2 percent to €770.4 million (2024: €753.2 million). These costs include restructuring expenses of €11.9 million.

Negative balance of other operating income and expenses due to a special effect

In 2025, the balance of other operating income and expenses was €66.6 million (2024: €37.4 million). An impairment loss on goodwill in the Biosolutions division in the amount of €89.1 million was recognized in the other operating result. The foreign currency result was more or less balanced at €-0.1 million (2024: €3.9 million).

Financial result includes result from investments in the amount of €-329.7 million (2024: €19.2 million)

WACKER’s financial result deteriorated year over year to €-398.6 million (2024: €-12.5 million). The result from investments in associates was reclassified to the financial result in the reporting year and the prior-year figures have been adjusted accordingly. This means that the operating result (EBIT) does a much better job of reflecting WACKER’s operating performance and is not influenced by fluctuations in the result from investments in associates.

The result from investments fell considerably year over year to €-329.7 million (2024: €19.2 million), due primarily to an impairment loss recognized on the equity-accounted investment in Siltronic AG in the amount of €307.8 million. Lower operating investment income from Siltronic AG in the amount of €-28.7 million (2024: €12.7 million) also had a negative impact. The impairment loss was recognized because Siltronic AG’s share price was consistently below the carrying amount of the investment, and the valuation carried out as of December 31, 2025 revealed a lower enterprise value.

Interest income of €28.5 million (2024: €41.4 million), largely from fixed-term deposits, was offset by interest expenses of €63.4 million (2024: €45.6 million). The increase in interest expenses can be attributed to higher financing liabilities for refinancing purposes. The net interest result was €-34.9 million (2024: €-4.2 million).

The other financial result came in at €-34.0 million (2024: €-27.5 million). It consists primarily of valuation effects related to exchange-rate effects on the Group’s financing agreements and interest-rate effects from provisions for pensions and other provisions.

Income taxes

In 2025, WACKER reported tax expenses of €226.6 million (2024: tax income of €2.3 million). The Group’s effective tax rate was -39.2 percent (2024: -0.9 percent). In the reporting year, deferred tax assets in Germany were no longer recognized as they were not considered to be recoverable. The resultant deferred tax expense amounted to €194.0 million.

As a result of the effects mentioned, the Group net result was €-804.9 million, compared with €260.7 million in the previous year.

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

The return on capital employed (ROCE) expresses earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in relation to the capital required for business operations (capital employed).

In the reporting year, ROCE was -3.1 percent (2024: 5.0 percent). The decline is due to lower EBIT combined with a slight increase in capital from €5.42 billion to €5.74 billion in the reporting year.