Archive: Annual Shareholders' Meeting

Dear Shareholders,

In 2017, WACKER continued on its growth trajectory. Sales climbed by more than 6 percent to €4.92 billion. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) also rose by over 6 percent despite substantially higher raw-material costs. It reached €1.01 billion, outperforming our forecast. This lifted Group net income from continuing operations, which was more than 40 percent higher than the year before.

At our three chemical divisions, last year was marked by substantial volume growth. It was so strong that we readily absorbed the higher raw-material costs and lower prices for some of our products. WACKER POLYSILICON experienced strong market growth amid lower average prices, and lifted its sales slightly as a result.

Other key financial indicators also reflected how good the business year was. We reduced net financial debt to below €500 million. Net cash flow was again high at around €360 million.

Fiscal 2017 was a special year for WACKER. We completed a key strategic step in our operations by giving up our majority ownership of Siltronic AG. In the future, Siltronic will appear in our figures as a significant shareholding, but no longer as a business division in its own right. We are now intensifying our focus on chemicals and our polysilicon business.

Given our good net income for 2017, our successful placement of Siltronic shares on the capital market and our low debt-to-equity ratio, the Supervisory and Executive Boards will propose to the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting that an extra €2 per share should be distributed on top of a dividend of €2.50 per share. The proposed payout thus totals €4.50 per share.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Centre Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2017, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2017, the combined 2017 Management Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289a, Subsection 1, and Section 315a, Subsection 1 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) as well as the 2017 Supervisory Board Report
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor
• Elections to the Supervisory Board

Dear Shareholders,

Fiscal 2016 was another good year for WACKER. Sales grew by 2 percent to €5.40 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to €1.10 billion, an even better figure than we had forecast. Substantially higher levels of depreciation – a result of our capital expenditures in recent years – did lower our net profit for the year at the Group level, though. The positive business trend was also evident in other key financial indicators. We reduced our net financial debt to below the one-billion-euro mark and, at around €400 million, our net cash flow grew significantly.

We want you, our shareholders, to share in this positive performance. The Supervisory Board and Executive Board will propose a dividend of €2.00 per share at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Overall, we will be distributing more than half of the company’s profit for the year to you.

Commissioning of our new production site in Charleston, Tennessee (USA) was one the most important events for us in 2016. Ramping up such a technically complex greenfield plant was a formidable task – and everyone involved accomplished it with great success. All of the facilities are now in operation and we are producing polysilicon of exceptional quality at the site.

WACKER’s three chemical divisions again lifted their sales last year amid strong volume growth. WACKER SILICONES even surpassed the two-billion-euro sales mark for the first time and continued to consolidate its position as the world’s second-biggest manufacturer of silicones. EBITDA at our chemical divisions totaled around €660 million, climbing even faster than sales.

Our polysilicon business performed well amid continuing low prices and the remaining commissioning costs for our new production site in Charleston. Sales volumes continued to rise and our production capacities were fully utilized, enabling us to increase total sales.

Our semiconductor wafer business benefited from strong customer demand in the second half of the year. Higher sales volumes, further cost reductions and lower currency-hedging expenses all helped Siltronic grow EBITDA significantly.

Overall, we are very satisfied with the development of business. Of particular note is the good sales and earnings trend at our three chemical divisions.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Center Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) – on May 19, 2017, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2016, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2016, the combined 2015 Management Report, the 2015 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor

Dear Shareholders,

Fiscal 2015 was a good year for WACKER. We achieved all of our goals and, in some cases, actually surpassed them. For the first time in our company’s history, sales jumped above the five-billion-euro mark. At €5.30 billion, they were about 10 percent higher year over year, thanks to positive exchange-rate effects and volume growth. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose about 9 percent, when adjusted for special income from advance payments retained and damages received from solar-sector customers. Net income was higher than expected at over €240 million. Every business division contributed to this success, achieving both sales growth and cost-savings.

We want you, our shareholders, to share in this positive performance. The Supervisory and Executive Boards will propose a dividend of €2.00 per share at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Compared with the previous year’s dividend, that represents an increase of 33 percent. Overall, we will be distributing 40 percent of the company’s profit for the year to you.

Net financial debt did not rise, contrary to our planning, but remained on a par with the previous year, at €1.07 billion. The proceeds from the IPO of Siltronic AG played a part in this. We were able to finance our capital expenditures of €830 million from current cash inflows.

We worked at full pace to complete our new site in Charleston, Tennessee (USA) and to begin manufacturing polysilicon there. The first quantities of high-quality polysilicon were produced at Charleston in early January of this year, and we have been gradually increasing production output since then, as scheduled.

Our chemical business developed particularly well in 2015. Sales totaled over €3.3 billion and EBITDA was up 38 percent, growing significantly more than sales, to about €530 million. This trend shows that we have the right products for global markets.

Our polysilicon business performed very respectably, amid lower prices and the start-up costs of some €90 million for our new site in Charleston. It was important to us that our production capacities were fully utilized and that we increased sales volumes.

In our silicon-wafer business, we posted a substantial rise in sales and a slight improvement in EBITDA, even though volume growth slowed in the second half of 2015. We compensated for lower prices through cost-savings.

On the whole, we are satisfied with the development of business. Of paticular note is the good sales and earnings trend at our three chemical divisions.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Center Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) – on Friday, May 20, 2016, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,

Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2015, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2015, the combined 2015 Management Report, the 2015 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor
• Resolution regarding Changes of Section 12 of the Articles of Association

Dear Shareholders,

Fiscal 2014 was a good year for WACKER.

We achieved a substantial increase in sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in our centennial year, thanks to higher volumes at all our divisions and improved polysilicon prices. We also benefited from special income from advance payments retained and damages received in connection with amended or terminated contracts with solar-sector customers. Sales reached €4.83 billion overall, up almost 8 percent year on year. EBITDA rose by more than 50 percent to €1.04 billion.

The agreement reached last year with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce concerning polysilicon exports to China was of crucial importance to us. In accordance with the agreement, we have undertaken not to sell polysilicon manufactured at our European sites below a specific minimum price in China. In turn, the Chinese authorities will refrain from imposing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on this material. As a result, we will remain in a position to offer our polysilicon in our biggest market at competitive prices. Other key financial indicators, too, were in line with – or even exceeded – our expectations. Although net financial debt further increased in 2014 as planned, we achieved our goal of keeping it below €1.1 billion in total. Net cash flow almost doubled year on year to more than €200 million and net income for the year was substantially higher at €195 million.

The acquisition of a majority stake in Siltronic Silicon Wafer in Singapore and the purchase of Scil Protein Productions in Halle, Germany, proved to be the right moves strategically, and both companies were quickly and successfully integrated into the WACKER Group. As a result of these acquisitions, Siltronic was able, in line with its strategy, to expand its business with 300 mm silicon wafers in Asia, while WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS now has additional prospects for growth in the field of pharmaceutical proteins thanks to additional capacity. This acquisition has already enabled us to conclude contracts with new customers. On the whole, we can be more than satisfied with the performance of all our divisions, particularly with the good results achieved by WACKER POLYSILICON and Siltronic.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Center Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) – on Friday, May 8, 2015, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2014, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2014, the combined 2014 Management Report, the 2014 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor
• Resolution on the Authorization to Acquire und Utilize Treasury Shares as well as for the Exclusion of Subscription and Tender Rights

Dear Shareholders,

2013 was not an easy year for WACKER. Although we set new records for polysilicon volumes, sales and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) fell short of the prior-year figures. Low polysilicon prices and persistent price pressure in the semiconductor segment were mainly responsible for this decrease. Overall, price effects reduced Group sales by around €360 million. Although our chemical business was stable, there was an absence of economic tailwinds.

Given the exceptionally challenging circumstances, WACKER delivered a respectable performance. Looking at the bottom line, we generated Group sales of €4.48 billion, a good 3 percent below the previous year, with EBITDA coming in at €679 million, down about 15 percent.

By focusing our resources, we cut costs across every corporate sector. This enabled us to limit the negative influence of price effects on Group sales and EBITDA. Cost savings of around €225 million made a substantial contribution. We also benefited here from higher production output.

Net cash flow and net financial debt performed better than expected. This positive outcome was due to lower investments and inventories. At just under €800 million, net financial debt remained well below the one-billion-euro mark.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Centre Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) – on Thursday, May 15, 2014, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Best regards,

Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2013, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 013, the combined 2013 Management Report, the 2013 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor
• Approval to Amend the Profit and Loss Transfer Agreements Between Wacker Chemie AG and Various Subsidiaries

Dear Shareholders,

As expected, 2012 was a challenging year for our company. The key factor influencing WACKER’s performance was solar-grade polysilicon. Although, in 2012, we supplied customers with more polysilicon than ever before, the marked price decline – 50 percent within one year – dampened Group sales and EBITDA. Additionally, lower volumes and prices held back our semiconductor business. Overall, price effects reduced Group sales by more than €700 million. Growth and increased profitability in chemicals, which remained stable throughout the year, could not fully offset this price impact. In 2012, WACKER’s three chemical divisions performed very well, with sales rising 5 percent on the year-earlier period. EBITDA performance in chemicals was even stronger, climbing 15 percent.

Looking at the bottom line, we generated Group sales of €4.63 billion, 6 percent below the previous year. EBITDA came in at €787 million, down 29 percent. Net income for the year amounted to €106.8 million.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Centre Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) on May 8, 2013, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Supervisory Board Chairman

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31,2013, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2013, the combined 2013 Management Report, the 2013 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Election of Auditor
• Approval to Amend the Profit and Loss Transfer Agreements Between Wacker Chemie AG and Various Subsidiaries

Dear Shareholders,

In fiscal 2011, WACKER posted a good result again. But, during the last three months of the year, turbulence on the photovoltaic (PV) market and weaker demand in our semiconductor business put a significant damper on our sales and earnings, which had been excellent up until then.

All in all, we raised sales to just under €5 billion and achieved earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of €1.1 billion. WACKER Group’s net income for 2011 was €365 million, corresponding to an after-tax return of over seven percent.

We would like to show you in person the details of how WACKER’s business developed in 2011, and explain the strategies and measures we are using to further drive the Group's growth this year.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Centre Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) on May 16, 2012, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Supervisory Board Chairman

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2011, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2011, the combined 2011 management report, the 2011 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information, pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Section 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Resolution on the Nomination of Auditor

Dear Shareholders,

Wacker Chemie AG has put the world economic crisis behind it faster than expected and ended 2010 on a record high. Demand jumped during 2010's first quarter and remained high until year-end.

This development is mirrored in our figures. Sales rose 28 percent, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) nearly doubled compared to the previous year; as for the year’s net income, WACKER achieved an after-tax return of €0.5 billion (over 10 percent).

We would like to personally provide you with the details on how our business developed in 2010, and on which strategies and measures continue to sustain the Group's profitable growth this year.

We hereby invite WACKER’s shareholders to attend our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting at the ICM – International Congress Centre Munich (Munich-Riem, Am Messesee 6, 81829 Munich, Germany) on May 18, 2011, starting at 10:00 a.m.

Sincerely,
Wacker Chemie AG

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker
Supervisory Board Chairman

Dr. Rudolf Staudigl
President & CEO


Agenda (summary)

• Presentation of the adopted Annual Financial Statements as per December 31, 2010, the approved Consolidated Financial Statements as per December 31, 2010, the combined 2010 management report, the 2010 Supervisory Board Report and the Executive Board’s Explanatory Report on the information, pursuant to Section 289, Subsection 4, and Sections 315, Subsection 4 of the German Commercial Code (HGB)
• Resolution on the Appropriation of Profits
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Executive Board
• Resolution on the Ratification of the Actions of the Supervisory Board
• Resolution on the Nomination of Auditor
• Approval of the Profit-and-Loss Transfer Agreement between Wacker Chemie AG and Wacker-Chemie Achte Venture GmbH
• Resolution on Changes to the Articles of Association