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Dear Shareholders,

2020 was an extraordinary year. The coronavirus pandemic caught the economy unawares and with considerable force. Public life ground to a halt in many countries around the world. Today, the pandemic still poses enormous economic, political and social challenges for us all. To overcome this exceptional situation, we focused – and continue to focus – on three priorities:

- Protecting the health of our employees
- Keeping production running
- Safeguarding our company’s long-term future

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, German legislation includes a special temporary rule that permits us to hold the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting without shareholders being physically present. The Executive Board has decided, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, to make use of this option again this year. A virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting enables us to protect your health and that of our employees and service providers, and to minimize the risks for all participants.

For you as a shareholder, this means that you can follow the entire Annual Shareholders’ Meeting live via the internet. After registering by the time specified, you will be able to exercise your voting rights either via absentee voting or the Company-appointed proxies. This is possible either in advance of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting or online during the event. You can submit your questions about agenda items beforehand.

When the world comes to a virtual standstill, WACKER is not going to emerge unscathed. Our sales of €4.69 billion were 4.8 percent lower than the year before. The sales downturn was strongest in Q2 2020. In the second half of the year, we made up for most of that decline thanks to growing demand for our products. At €666.3 million, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) fell 14.9 percent year over year. However, in 2019, our EBITDA had included special income of €112.5 million in insurance compensation. Adjusted for that income, EBITDA declined by a slight 0.7 percent year over year. A very positive fact is that WACKER has returned to profit, posting net income of €202.3 million, after a loss in 2019.

WACKER’s chemical business is our sales and earnings engine. That remains true even though WACKER did not post sales growth in 2020. Lower average prices for standard silicones and reduced volumes due to the pandemic slowed sales and earnings at WACKER SILICONES. WACKER POLYMERS raised its EBITDA amid robust demand from the construction industry and lower raw-material prices. At WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS, both sales and EBITDA grew.

After two difficult years, our polysilicon business stabilized in 2020, for several reasons. First: average prices for solar-grade polysilicon stopped falling. Second: we expanded our market share with semiconductor-sector customers. Third: we significantly reduced our production costs. As a result, EBITDA – measured on a comparable basis – improved by roughly €60 million and came in slightly positive.

The Executive and Supervisory Boards will propose a dividend of €2.00 per share at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting.