Wacker Chemie AG recorded a decline in sales and earnings in the second quarter of 2024. The Munich-based chemical company generated sales of around €1.5 billion in the reporting quarter (Q2 2023: €1.75 billion), down 16 percent. This trend was due primarily to much lower solar-grade polysilicon volumes. Compared with the preceding quarter (€1.49 billion), sales were down 1 percent.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortiza-tion) totaled €160 million in Q2 2024, down 37 percent year over year (€256 million). This decrease can also be attributed primarily to lower volumes. The WACKER Group’s reporting-quarter EBITDA margin was 10.9 percent (Q2 2023: 14.6 percent). The margin in the preceding quarter was 11.6 percent.

Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) totaled €43 million in the reporting quarter. This was 72 percent less than a year earlier (€153 million) and corresponded to an EBIT margin of 2.9 percent (Q2 2023: 8.7 percent). Net income for the second quarter of 2024 totaled €35 million (Q2 2023: €119 million), equating to an earnings per share at €0.58 (Q2 2023: €2.38).

WACKER has confirmed its forecast for the full-year 2024. The com-pany continues to anticipate sales in the range of €6.0 billion to €6.5 billion. EBITDA for the full year is expected to be between €600 million and €800 million.

“Even though a sustained turnaround is not yet in sight, we are seeing the first signs that the economy is recovering. Inflation rates are drop-ping at a faster rate than expected, and energy and raw-material prices have eased. Order intake in the chemical industry has improved. We are also seeing a gradual increase in demand again in some areas. In our chemical divisions, sales and earnings were up over the first quarter,” said Group President & CEO Christian Hartel.

“In particular, our business with specialty silicones showed a positive development of late. In our polymers dispersions business, we are witnessing a recovery in some areas. Demand has increased considerably again from the manufacturers of consumer products such as paints and packaging, for example. In our polysilicon business, we have further increased the share of polysilicon destined for the semiconductor industry. And bio-pharmaceuticals have been the growth drivers in our biotechnology business in recent months,” Hartel continued. All this, he stressed, was evidence that WACKER’s strategy is bearing fruit. Accordingly, the company further increased its capital expenditures in the second quar-ter. As regards the full-year forecast, which the company confirmed, Hartel explained: “We now expect that EBITDA will be in the upper half of the projected range.”