News
Opportunities for Further Growth
WACKER sees good long-term opportunities for further growth in its business fields. President & CEO Dr. Rudolf Staudigl underscored this point at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting held in Munich in early May. He said that “we have a unique product portfolio, particularly for conserving and sustainably generating energy. Whether we are talking about insulation for buildings or renewable energy sources such as solar power – WACKER helps to save energy and lower greenhouse-gas emissions.”
According to Dr. Staudigl, increasing global digitization and rising standards of living in emerging economies give WACKER opportunities to grow. In 2008, WACKER posted new record figures for both sales and earnings. Sales rose 14% to €4.3 billion last fiscal year (2007: €3.8bn). EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose by over 5% to €1.06 billion (2007: €1.00bn).
At the 2009 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Munich at the beginning of May, CEO Dr. Rudolf Staudigl assessed WACKER’s long-term growth potential as good.
At the 2009 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Munich at the beginning of May, CEO Dr. Rudolf Staudigl assessed WACKER’s long-term growth potential as good.
Of 2008’s retained profit of €576.9 million (2007: €1.09bn), WACKER is paying out a total of €89.4 million (2007: €149.0m) to its shareholders. The dividend per dividend-bearing share is €1.80 (2007: €2.25). Last year, there was an additional special bonus of €0.75 per share.
For full-year 2009, WACKER is expecting markedly lower sales and operational earnings compared with 2008. Dr. Staudigl considers the long-term prospects to be generally favorable. The Group’s polysilicon business, in particular, was quite promising in Q1 2009. In this area, sales surpassed the €300 million mark in a single quarter for the first time ever and EBITDA rose 136%. Therefore, the Group plans to continue its strategic investment program.
