“Our expectations have declined primarily because prices for polysilicon remain extremely low,” said Rudolf Staudigl, WACKER’s CEO, as he explained the main reason for the guidance downgrade. “Many market experts anticipated a price recovery for solar silicon in the second half-year – an assumption that was reflected in our previous guidance. But the average prices for this material have not improved. Instead, they fell further in the third quarter due to overcapacity created by Chinese competitors.”
Furthermore, the increasing weakness of the global economy is also dampening business in all of WACKER’s divisions.
Additionally, the company announced that it is starting to work on a comprehensive program to prepare WACKER for future challenges by making the company more efficient and capable and achieving substantial cost savings. “We must, and will, effectively counter the increasingly difficult conditions in our business,” said Staudigl confidently.
According to preliminary and unaudited figures, Group sales for Q3 2019 amount to €1,270 million. WACKER expects third-quarter EBITDA of €270 million. This sum includes special income of about €112 million in insurance compensation for the damage incurred following the incident at the Charleston site in 2017. The company booked this amount under the WACKER POLYSILICON division in the reporting quarter.
WACKER will publish its interim report for Q3 2019 on October 24, 2019.
