Weaker demand slowed down Wacker Chemie at the end of the year.

The Munich-based specialty chemicals company set new records for sales and earnings in 2022, Wacker Chemie announced on Monday. However, at around EUR 2.1 billion, the operating result (EBITDA) was only at the lower end of the previous forecast of EUR 2.1 to 2.3 billion (previous year: EUR 1.54 billion). According to preliminary figures, fourth-quarter earnings amounted to 360 million euros, falling well short of analysts' average estimates of 421.5 million euros.

Wacker felt the effects of customer destocking particularly in the silicone business. In addition, business in China did not perform as hoped due to the coronavirus restrictions. This led to increasing import pressure and falling prices. By contrast, prices for specialty products remained largely stable. Overall, Wacker was able to significantly increase its sales in 2022 to around EUR 8.2 billion from EUR 6.2 billion a year ago. The Group plans to publish final figures on March 14.

(Report by Patricia Weiß. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)