Wacker "back on track for growth" in 2014

ERJ staff report (TP)

Munich, Germany – Following a “solid” first quarter, Wacker Chemie AG anticipates sales and earnings growth for full-year 2014.

This was underscored by Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of the Munich-based chemical company, at its 2014 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. “This year, we are on track for growth again, as seen in our first-quarter figures,” said Staudigl in his speech to some 1,000 shareholders at the International Congress Center in Munich last week. In Q1 2014, Wacker’s sales and earnings figures were markedly better compared with last year’s first and fourth quarters.

Staudigl reaffirmed the full-year forecast. Relative to last year (€4.48bn), he expected Group sales to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage. EBITDA is projected to climb at least 10 percent above the prior-year figure (€679m).

Turning to Wacker’s centennial this year, Staudigl said he was confident about the years ahead: “The qualities that have always characterised Wacker are entrepreneurship and the courage to initiate change. Our company’s history offers plenty of examples.”

PVC, he added, is a case in point – the Group’s main sales driver of the 1980s was given up entirely in 2000. Wacker, he continued, has become more and more international over the years. For example, it has strongly expanded its presence in China, a key growth market.

For 2013, the firm is distributing a dividend totalling €24.8m to shareholders, compared with €29.8m a year earlier. The dividend per dividend-bearing share is €0.50, after €0.60 a year ago. The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ other proposals were also adopted by large majorities.

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Press release from Wacker