(Reuters) -German chemical company Wacker Chemie on Wednesday reported a 26% fall in its first-quarter core profit, missing analysts’ expectations, due to reduced volumes of solar-grade polysilicon.
The specialty chemicals maker reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 127 million euros ($144.42 million), falling short of the 135.2 million euros expected by analysts in a company-provided poll.
“Weak economic conditions continue to impact the ordering behaviour of many customers. What is more, current U.S. trade policy has caused considerable uncertainty on the markets in recent weeks,” President and Chief Executive Christian Hartel said in a statement, adding that the solar-grade polysilicon business remains challenging due to overcapacity in China and uncertainty over punitive U.S. tariffs.
The Bavarian-based company said its polysilicon division reported a decline in both sales and EBITDA, with sales falling 18% year-on-year to 245 million euros and EBITDA decreasing 32% to 29 million euros.
However, it notes that the hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon segment performed well.
Its polymers division saw sales dipping by 3% and EBITDA falling by 34% on the year, due to persistent weakness in the construction sector, particularly in China.
In contrast, the silicones business reported increased sales and EBITDA, driven by growth in health sector products, Wacker Chemie said.
Germany’s chemicals association VCI, which represents around 1,900 companies, cut its annual outlook in March, expecting 2025 to be further impacted by geopolitical headwinds and the weak economic environment.
The industry lobby expects production to remain flat in 2025, after previously estimating a 0.5% growth, with sales and producer prices declining by 1% this year.
Wacker Chemie, which supplies polysilicon for roughly half the world’s chips, also confirmed its earlier forecast of 2025 with sales of between 6.1 billion and 6.4 billion euros and EBITDA coming in at 700 million and 900 million euros.
It expects that selling prices this year will likely be slightly lower than the previous year, but also sees a substantial increase in volumes, especially for specialty products in the chemical divisions and polysilicon.
($1 = 0.8794 euros)
(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Kim Coghill and Louise Heavens)
