EANS-News: WACKER Releases its Preliminary Fiscal 2011 Figures

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Financial Figures/Balance Sheet

Subtitle: - Sales climb 3 percent to €4.91 billion - At €1.1 billion,
EBITDA remains 8 percent below prior-year figure - Full-year 2011
EBIT at around €600 million, net income of some €350 million expected
- Around €980 million invested in growth projects financed from
company's own cash flow - CEO Rudolf Staudigl: “Weak semiconductor
and solar demand slowed our business in Q4”

Munich (euro adhoc) - January 26, 2012 - In fiscal 2011, Wacker
Chemie AG continued to increase its sales compared to the prior year.
According to preliminary calculations, the Munich-based chemical
company achieved total sales of EUR4.91 billion in 2011 (2010:
EUR4.75 billion), up over 3 percent year over year. This slight sales
rise stemmed mainly from volume gains, as well as higher prices for
some products. In contrast, a weaker US dollar compared with 2010
slowed sales growth.

According to preliminary figures, earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to around EUR1.10
billion (2010: EUR1.19 billion), - down some 8 percent year over
year. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) are estimated to
reach about EUR600 million in 2011 (2010: EUR765 million) according
to preliminary calculations. Impairments on fixed assets totaling
some EUR40 million had an impact here, of which around EUR15 million
are due to closure of the Group´s semiconductor plant in Hikari,
Japan. WACKER Group´s net income for 2011 is expected to be some
EUR350 million (2010: EUR497 million).

The main reason behind the earnings decline was weak Q4 2011
business, primarily in the semiconductor and solar industries. In the
year-end quarter, EBITDA remained below the Q4 2010 level at all
business divisions. Significantly higher year-over-year costs for raw
materials and energy slowed the Group´s earnings trend. Price
increases meant that WACKER spent around EUR160 million more on raw
materials and energy in 2011 than a year earlier.

"Our business developed well over the first nine months," said CEO
Rudolf Staudigl. "The decline in semiconductor and solar demand was
stronger than we had expected and caused Q4 figures to come in below
our estimate. Overall, we slightly increased our full-year sales with
an operating result near the high prior-year level."

WACKER´s investments amounted to some EUR980 million in 2011 (2010:
EUR695 million) according to preliminary figures. WACKER financed
these investments through cash flow from operating activities
including advance payments by customers. In terms of net financial
liabilities, WACKER posted a surplus of around EUR100 million (2010:
EUR264 million) at the end of 2011.

Investment spending in 2011 focused on the Group´s strategic growth
projects. These primarily include facilities for producing hyperpure
polycrystalline silicon in Nünchritz and Charleston, Tennessee (USA).
At its Nünchritz site, WACKER started polysilicon production in
October. Construction of the new production site in Charleston
progressed well in 2011.

In Q4 2011, the Group´s business developed significantly weaker than
in the preceding quarters. Demand for semiconductor wafers and
solar-grade silicon, in particular, was at a low level, also due to
customers reducing inventories. At the Group´s chemical divisions,
the normal seasonal effects on business - particularly with the
construction sector - had a stronger impact than a year earlier. In
total, Group sales from October through December 2011 amounted to
EUR1.01 billion (Q4 2010: EUR1.21 billion). This is 16 percent lower
than in the comparable period a year ago. Against Q3 2011 (EUR1.28
billion), sales dropped 21 percent. WACKER´s fourth quarter EBITDA
reached some EUR110 million (Q4 2010: EUR292 million).

In the year-end quarter of 2011, several non-recurring effects
influenced earnings in contrasting ways - reducing EBITDA by, on
balance, some EUR15 million. Due to the termination of supply
contracts with customers exiting the solar business, WACKER
POLYSILICON retained advance payments and indemnity payments totaling
around EUR65 million. Over and above the standards specified in
Germany´s so-called "Heubeck" tables, WACKER added a further amount
of some EUR30 million to its pension provisions to take account of
the higher life expectancy of the Group´s pension-fund beneficiaries.
Obligations for the closure of the wafer plant in Hikari, Japan -
announced in early December - reduced Siltronic´s fourth-quarter
EBITDA by some EUR50 million.

The chemical divisions generated total sales in Q4 2011 of around
EUR605 million (Q4 2010: EUR607 million), thereby nearly reaching the
prior-year level. Chemical divisions´ EBITDA amounted to
approximately EUR25 million in Q4 2011 (Q4 2010: EUR49 million), thus
dropping by about half year over year. In addition to this winter
season´s stronger decline in demand - e.g. for construction products
- higher raw-material costs and lower prices for some silicone
products also had an impact here.

The Group´s semiconductor business posted Q4 2011 sales and EBITDA
that were significantly lower compared with both the prior-year and
prior-quarter figures. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Siltronic
generated total sales of around EUR180 million - a drop of 33 percent
from a year earlier (Q4 2010: EUR270 million). Dampened expectations
for electronics-sector demand and Siltronic customers´ reduction of
inventories were the reasons behind markedly lower silicon-wafer
sales volumes compared to both the prior-year quarter and the
preceding quarter. Siltronic´s EBITDA from October through December
2011 amounted to roughly EUR-60 million (Q4 2010: EUR37 million).
Beside weak business in the final quarter, obligations of EUR50
million for the announced closure of the site in Hikari, Japan, were
a further key factor in this earnings decline. Adjusted for this
non-recurring effect, Siltronic´s fourth-quarter EBITDA was EUR-10
million.

At WACKER POLYSILICON, high customer inventory levels and the
consolidation process in the solar industry clearly left their mark
on fourth-quarter figures. The division reported total sales of some
EUR255 million in the three months to the end of December 2011 (Q4
2010: EUR374 million) - a drop of just under 32 percent. In the same
period, EBITDA fell approximately 22 percent to about EUR165 million
(Q4 2010: EUR211 million). This includes retained advance payments
and indemnity payments totaling EUR65 million from the termination of
supply contracts with customers exiting the solar business.

Customer demand rebounded in the first few weeks of 2012. Although
prices for semiconductor wafers continued to decline, WACKER is
currently experiencing sales-volume increases at its chemical
divisions, as well as for semiconductor wafers and polysilicon
compared to Q4 2011.

The Q4 and fiscal 2011 figures and forecasts in this press release
are preliminary. Wacker Chemie AG will publish its Q4 Report and
Annual Report 2011 on March 14, 2012.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on
assumptions and estimates of WACKER´s Executive Board. Although we
assume the expectations in these forwardlooking statements are
realistic, we cannot guarantee they will prove to be correct. The
assumptions may harbor risks and uncertainties that may cause the
actual figures to differ considerably from the forward-looking
statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include, among
other things, changes in the economic and business environment,
variations in exchange and interest rates, the introduction of
competing products, lack of acceptance for new products or services,
and changes in corporate strategy. WACKER does not plan to update the
forwardlooking statements, nor does it assume the obligation to do
so.

Further inquiry note:
Christof Bachmair
Media Relations & Information
Tel.: +49 (0)89 6279 1830
E-Mail: christof.bachmair@wacker.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Wacker Chemie AG
Hanns-Seidel-Platz 4
D-81737 München
phone: +49 (0) 89 6279 01
FAX: +49 (0) 89 6279 1770
mail: info@wacker.com
WWW: http://www.wacker.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
indexes: MDAX, CDAX, Prime All Share
stockmarkets: free trade: Hannover, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart,
regulated dealing: Berlin, regulated dealing/prime standard:
Frankfurt
language: English