The Executive Board of Wacker Chemie AG has decided on its guidance for 2019 today. It expects Group sales to climb by a mid-single-digit percentage versus last year’s €4.98 billion amid higher polysilicon and chemical sales volumes.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) will be between 10 and 20 percent lower than last year’s figure (€930 million). That will accordingly affect other earnings indicators, including EBITDA margin, EBIT and net income. A significant contributing factor to the projected EBITDA decline are lower average prices anticipated for polysilicon this year.
WACKER expects net cash flow for 2019 to be clearly positive and significantly higher than last year’s figure (€125 million).
The insurance compensation payments expected for the loss event at Charleston (Tennessee, USA) are not included in this guidance.
WACKER will release its full outlook of all financial indicators for 2019 when it publishes its 2018 Annual Report on March 19, 2019.