Comparing Actual with Forecast Performance

During the year, WACKER adjusted its targets for 2020 (published in its 2019 Annual Report) to take account of the pandemic’s effects. The main factor here was the steep slump in the global economy in the second quarter. When the company presented its 2019 Annual Report in mid-March, it already made its annual guidance conditional because of the difficulty of reliably estimating the pandemic’s implications for its earnings and financial position.

No Guidance after Close of the First Quarter

At the start of 2020, WACKER projected that its sales would increase by a low-single-digit percentage. The margin was likely to be slightly lower than a year earlier, with EBITDA about 20 percent lower. was expected to be positive and substantially higher than the year before. would be clearly positive and substantially higher than the previous year. Capital expenditures would reach around €350 million, with depreciation and amortization amounting to around €425 million. Net financial debt would be substantially lower than the year before.

In its Q1 Interim Report of April 2020, WACKER refrained from issuing full-year guidance. At the time, it was not possible to reliably estimate either how strongly or for how long government measures to contain the global spread of the virus would dampen the company’s business.

In its Q2 Interim Report, WACKER again refrained from providing specific guidance for full-year 2020, as it was still not possible to adequately quantify how the global spread of the virus would affect the company’s business. But WACKER made it clear that it expected its sales, EBITDA and margin for 2020 to be below the previous year’s levels due to the pandemic. Net cash flow was likely to be above the year-earlier figure.

In its Q3 Interim Report, WACKER reiterated its expectations for sales, EBITDA and EBITDA margin for 2020. Net cash flow was now likely to be substantially higher than a year earlier.

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Comparing Actual with Forecast Performance

 

 

 

 

 

Results in 2019

 

Forecast
March 2020

 

Forecast
April 2020

 

Forecast
July 2020

 

Forecast
October 2020

 

Results in 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key Financial Performance Indicators

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EBITDA margin (%)

 

15.9

 

Somewhat lower than last year

 

 

Below last year’s level

 

Below last year’s level

 

14.2

EBITDA (€ million)

 

783.4

 

About 20% lower than last year

 

 

Below last year’s level

 

Below last year’s level

 

666.3

ROCE (%)

 

-11.3

 

Clearly positive, substantially higher than last year

 

 

 

 

5.6

Net cash flow (€ million)

 

184.4

 

Clearly positive, substantially higher than last year

 

 

Above last year’s level

 

Substantially higher than last year

 

697.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplementary Financial Performance Indicators

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales (€ million)

 

4,927.6

 

Low-single-digit percentage increase

 

 

Below last year’s level

 

Below last year’s level

 

4,692.2

Capital expenditures (€ million)

 

379.5

 

Around 350

 

<300

 

<250

 

<250

 

224.4

Net financial debt (€ million)

 

713.7

 

Substantially lower than last year

 

 

 

 

67.5

Depreciation/amortization and impairments (€ million)

 

1,319.7

 

Around 425

 

 

 

 

403.5

WACKER Closes 2020 in Line with Its Expectations

In 2020, WACKER posted sales of €4.69 billion (2019: €4.93 billion), down 4.8 percent year over year. The company’s sales contracted sharply in Q2 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic. Although WACKER regained some ground in Q3 and Q4, supported mainly by robust demand from the construction industry and for , it did not fully make up for that sales slump. WACKER’s sales trend was slowed not only by somewhat lower volumes year over year, but also by price changes and exchange-rate effects.

EBITDA was €666.3 million, down 14.9 percent (2019: €783.4 million). The EBITDA margin was correspondingly lower than in the prior year. The main reason for the EBITDA decline was prior-year special income of €112.5 million in insurance compensation. Adjusted for this income, the year-over-year fall in EBITDA was 0.7 percent.

At €697.7 million, was substantially higher year over year (2019: €184.4 million). Factors prompting this strong rise included a marked reduction in current assets and much lower capital expenditures. ROCE of 5.6 percent was clearly positive and significantly higher than in the prior year.

In 2020, capital expenditures reached €224.4 million, well below the year-earlier figure of €379.5 million.

At year-end, net financial debt amounted to €67.5 million, down significantly versus the previous year (2019: €713.7 million).

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Expenses by Cost Type

 

% of sales

 

2020

 

2019

 

 

 

 

 

Personnel costs

 

28.4

 

25.6

Raw-material costs

 

28.1

 

30.0

Energy costs

 

7.7

 

8.1

Depreciation/amortization and impairments

 

8.6

 

26.8

EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
Return on capital employed is the profitability ratio relating to the capital employed. It is defined as earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) divided by capital employed. Investment income from Siltronic AG and the corresponding carrying amount in equity are not included when ROCE is calculated. ROCE is a clear indicator of how profitably the capital required for business operations is being employed. It is influenced not only by profitability, but also by capital intensity with regard to noncurrent assets required for business operations and to working capital. ROCE is reviewed annually as part of our planning process and is a key criterion for managing our capital expenditure budget.
Net Cash Flow
Net cash flow is defined as the sum of cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from long-term investing activities (excluding securities).
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Polysilicon
Hyperpure polycrystalline silicon from WACKER POLYSILICON is used for manufacturing wafers for the electronics and solar industries. To produce it, metallurgical-grade silicon is converted into liquid trichlorosilane, highly distilled and deposited in hyperpure form at 1,000 °C.
Net Cash Flow
Net cash flow is defined as the sum of cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from long-term investing activities (excluding securities).

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