From pv magazine Germany
Wacker Chemie AG has posted a significant decline in second-quarter sales and earnings.
Total sales fell from €1.75 to around €1.5 billion compared to the same quarter last year, the Munich-based group announced on Friday. The main reason for the drop were significantly lower sales volumes of polysilicon for the solar industry, the company said. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by 37% compared to the second quarter of 2023 to €160 million, which Wacker Chemie attributed to the lower sales volumes. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell to €43 million, well below the previous year's €153 million.
Total second-quarter sales in its Wacker Polysilicon division were €232 million, 55% less than in the same period last year. Sales volumes of polysilicon for the solar industry were significantly lower, which ultimately led to a significant drop in sales. The division's EBITDA also fell by around two thirds, from €156 to €55 million. Compared to the first quarter of 2024, Wacker Chemie said sales fell by 23%, but EBITDA rose by 27%.
With the publication of its quarterly figures, the company confirmed its forecast for the full year. Wacker Chemie continues to expect sales in the range of €6 to €6.5 billion in the current fiscal year, with EBITDA expected to range between €600 and €800 million.
“Even if there are no signs of a sustainable turnaround yet, we are seeing initial signs of an economic recovery. Inflation rates are falling faster than expected and energy and raw material prices have eased somewhat,” explained CEO Christian Hartel. Wacker Chemie is trying to expand the customer base for its polysilicon division. The company has been able to further increase the proportion of polysilicon that goes to the semiconductor industry, said Hartel. Wacker Chemie is also planning to build a new production line for high-purity semiconductor polysilicon at its Burghausen site.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.