Archive: Annual Shareholders' Meeting

Dear Shareholders,

WACKER performed very successfully in 2022. With €8.2 billion in sales and EBITDA of €2.1 billion, it was by far the most successful year in the company’s history. All our business divisions contributed to the company’s success and were able to increase their sales by double-digit percentages. Other key financial indicators underline our strong business performance. Despite a significant increase in capital expenditures, net cash flow for 2022 remained at a high level of around €440 million. By the end of 2022, net financial assets amounted to some €400 million. Net income for the year surpassed the high figure of 2021 by a wide margin, coming in at around €1.3 billion.

This positive business performance has a positive effect on the size of the dividend too. The Executive and Supervisory Boards will therefore propose a dividend of 12 euros per share at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Accordingly, WACKER will be distributing roughly 50 percent of its net income for the year, in line with its dividend policy.

At the same time, we continued to invest systematically in our future during 2022. For instance, we spent around €550 million on expanding our global production capacities. Almost 60 percent more than in the previous year. We have thus laid the foundation for further profitable growth.

We hereby invite the shareholders of our Company to our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. This will take place on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (CEST) as an in-person event at the International Congress Center Munich (ICM) in Riem (Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany).

Kind regards,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Christian Hartel
President & CEO

Dear Shareholders,

For WACKER, 2021 was a record-breaking year. Group sales entered a new dimension, surpassing the six-billion-euro mark for the first time. This increase was down to strong organic growth across all four of our business divisions. EBITDA more than doubled to over €1.5 billion – despite a significant year-over-year increase in raw-material prices. Higher EBITDA had a positive impact on net income for the year, which came in at €828 million.

This success will have a positive effect on the size of the dividend. At the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in May, the Supervisory Board and Executive Board will propose payment of a dividend of €8.00 per share.

All of WACKER’s business divisions increased their sales in 2021. This growth was due to a significant rise in volumes and to better prices. Among our chemical divisions, WACKER SILICONES posted a strong rise in EBITDA. Despite higher raw-material prices, WACKER POLYMERS almost matched its prior-year EBITDA figure. WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS grew its biotechnology business and achieved a slight increase in EBITDA. WACKER POLYSILICON also performed exceptionally well. Sales and earnings surged due to volume growth for solar and semiconductor applications, substantially higher prices for solar-grade silicon, and improvements in the cost of goods sold.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, German legislation now includes a special 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.

That means you, as a shareholder, 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. To support you in this regard and to make the necessary information available to you in the easiest possible way, we will once again publish the Executive Board’s statements about 2021 on our website well ahead of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting.

We herewith invite WACKER’s shareholders to our virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on Friday, May 20, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. (CEST).

Registered shareholders will be able to follow the virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting as a livestream from WACKER’s headquarters at Hanns-Seidel-Platz 4, 81737 Munich (Germany) on the internet at www.wacker.com/hauptversammlung.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Christian Hartel
President and CEO

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.

We herewith invite WACKER’s shareholders to our virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 12, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. (CEST).

Registered shareholders will be able to follow the virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting as a livestream from WACKER’s headquarters at Hanns-Seidel-Platz 4, 81737 Munich (Germany) on the internet at www.wacker.com/hauptversammlung.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President and CEO