WACKER confirms strategy and long-term growth targets

Munich/Burghausen, 19 September 2024

Munich/Burghausen (pta005/19.09.2024/07:00 UTC+2)

• Since the end of 2021, WACKER has invested around 1.7 billion euros in further growth and made significant progress on sustainability targets
• Sales are expected to reach EUR 10 billion by 2030; EBITDA margin of over 20 percent targeted
• “Our strategy remains intact. We are financially strong and are benefiting from global megatrends,” says WACKER CEO Christian Hartel, emphasizing: “In the future, our focus will be more on improving margins than on volume growth.”

At today’s Capital Markets Day, Wacker Chemie AG confirmed the strategic growth and sustainability targets it communicated in 2022. Accordingly, WACKER is aiming for sales in the order of 10 billion euros by 2030 (sales in 2023:
6.4 billion euros) and an EBITDA margin of over 20 percent (EBITDA margin 2023: 12.9 percent). Absolute CO2 emissions are to be reduced by over 50 percent by then compared to the levels emitted in 2020. By the end of 2023, WACKER had already successfully reduced emissions by around a quarter.

“We are on track – despite the challenging market environment,” said Christian Hartel, CEO of Wacker Chemie AG, at the Capital Markets Day. “Our strategy is still intact. We are financially strong and are benefiting from global megatrends.” At the same time, he emphasized: “In the future, our focus will be more on improving margins than on volume growth. We will therefore invest more in efficiency and expanding our specialty business.”

As part of the Capital Markets Day, the company will present details of the progress and measures achieved. Of the 40 investment projects presented in March 2022, 25 percent have already been completed. In total, WACKER has invested around 1.7 billion euros since the end of 2021, including in new capacities for silicon specialties in Nünchritz, the expansion of capacities for high-quality polymer products for the construction industry at the Chinese site in Nanjing, as well as in a new mRNA competence center in Halle (Saale) and the expansion of polysilicon production for the semiconductor industry in Burghausen.

Going forward, WACKER will continue to expand its market position in attractive markets and press ahead with its profitable growth. To this end, the company is presenting solutions for global trend topics such as health, sustainability, modern construction and digitalization. “We are continuing to invest consistently in innovations and the expansion of our global production network,” explains Christian Hartel. In the chemicals divisions, WACKER will focus even more on the specialty business. These include, for example, high-tech silicones for the energy and mobility transition or polymers for modern, sustainable construction. The BIOSOLUTIONS division focuses on bio-ingredients and modern medical therapies. In the POLYSILICON division, WACKER is increasingly focusing on the production of high-purity polysilicon for the semiconductor industry. “At the same time, we are continuously working to further increase our productivity and efficiency,” emphasizes Hartel. “Key levers here include still active portfolio management and further digitalization and automation measures.”

As part of the Capital Markets Day, the WACKER CEO also made it clear how important sustainability is for the company. “Sustainability is a business case for us. We not only want to improve our own footprint, but above all we want to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals by offering high-performance, sustainable solutions. The progress we have made in the area of ​​sustainability has been recognized with top rankings by various ESG rating agencies.”

Today’s Capital Markets Day will take place as an interactive in-person event at the company’s largest location in Burghausen.

All documents relating to the Capital Markets Day are available on the website at www.wacker.com published in the Investor Relations section.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and estimates made by WACKER management. Although we believe that the expectations in these forward-looking statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. The assumptions may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such deviations include, among others: changes in the economic and business environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, the introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services, and changes in business strategy. WACKER has no plans to update the forward-looking statements and assumes no obligation to do so.

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