MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker Chemie AG finished Q1 2021 with significant growth in sales and earnings, said the company.
The Munich-based chemical company generated sales of EUR1,359.6 million in the reporting quarter. That was 14 percent higher than in the same period last year (EUR1,197.5 million). Relative to the preceding quarter (EUR1,239.2 million), sales were up 10 percent, chiefly due to high demand in nearly all divisions. Business in construction materials and polysilicon, for example, was especially strong. Higher prices, particularly for solar-grade polysilicon, also lifted sales. On the other hand, exchange-rate effects resulting from the weaker US dollar year over year slowed sales somewhat.
In Q1 2021, Wacker posted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of EUR246.4 million. That was 42 percent higher than in the same period last year (EUR174.1 million). Relative to the preceding quarter (EUR196.0 million), EBITDA climbed 26 percent. This strong growth stemmed from higher volumes and, in some segments, better prices, as well as from overall higher plant utilization rates. The Group's ongoing efficiency program reduced costs, which also had a positive impact on EBITDA. The company encountered headwinds, however, from markedly higher raw-material prices both year over year and quarter over quarter. The EBITDA margin for January through March 2021 was 18.1 percent, compared with 14.5 percent in the same period last year. In the prior quarter, the EBITDA margin was 15.8 percent.
Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) also rose markedly year over year due to the factors already mentioned, coming in at EUR154.9 million (Q1 2020: EUR69.8 million). This was more than double the year-earlier figure and corresponded to an EBIT margin of 11.4 percent (Q1 2020: 5.8 percent). Net income totaled EUR106.6 million in the reporting quarter (Q1 2020: EUR68.9 million), corresponding to earnings per share of EUR2.06 (Q1 2020: EUR1.31).
We also remind that in 2013, Wacker launched a new EVA production plant - with an additional 40,000 tonnes annually - at its Ulsan site in South Korea back in February. The production capacity of the site has, thus, almost doubled then, making the plant complex one of the biggest of its kind in South Korea - thereby solidifying the company's global leading position in this segment.
According to MRC's DataScope, in February of this year, EVA imports to Russia increased by 1.44% to 3,140 tonnes from 3,100 tonnes in the same month last year, and by the end of January-February 2021, imports of this type of ethylene copolymer in the Russian Federation increased by 0.68% - to 6.23 thousand tons (6,190 tonnes tonnes in January-February 2020).
Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
MRC