Supervisory Board re-elects Peter-Alexander Wacker as its chairman
Peter-Alexander Wacker remains at the helm of Wacker Chemie AG’s Supervisory Board. The Board unanimously elected the 62-year-old entrepreneur as its chairman at its constituent session, held directly after the 2013 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting.
In a speech to some 1,000 shareholders, Rudolf Staudigl, the CEO of the Munich-based chemical group, reaffirmed sales and earnings projections for fiscal 2013. WACKER continues to expect sales to come in at last year’s level (€4.63 billion). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are likely to be below the prior-year figure (€787 million), mainly due to lower polysilicon prices. In Q1 2013, WACKER experienced noticeably higher customer demand after last year’s weak final quarter. WACKER’s Q1 2013 volume growth was led by polysilicon and fueled by numerous chemical products. Sales and earnings were both markedly higher than in Q4 2012.
Staudigl underlined his confidence that WACKER after its stable start during the first quarter is well positioned even in a difficult business environment. Here, WACKER mainly draws on its activities in silicon and polymer chemistry. “Our strategic levers for continued growth are expansion, substitution and innovation,” Staudigl emphasized. According to the CEO, WACKER intends to intensify its expansion in emerging economies, such as Brazil, China, India and Southeast Asia. This strategy, he said, is driven primarily by rising living standards in these countries. WACKER is expanding there by substituting conventional, simpler materials with its higher-end products. As examples, Staudigl mentioned dispersions for the paper, packaging and carpet industries and silicones for applications in the areas of health, personal care, medicine and automotive engineering.
Of 2012’s net income of €106.8 million (2011: €356.1 million), WACKER is paying out a total of €29.8 million to its shareholders, compared with €109.3 million last year. The dividend per dividend-bearing share was €0.60 after last year’s €2.20. The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ other proposals were also adopted by large majorities.
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