Wacker Chemie Ag Ord

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Walker Conference Call Q3 2026. I am Yousef, the chorus call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in listen-only mode and that this conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star followed by 1 on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and then 0. The conference must not be recorded for publication or for broadcasting. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Joerg Hoffmann, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Welcome to the WACKER Chemie AG conference call on our third quarter 2026 results. Christian Hartel, our CEO, and Tobias Ohler, our CFO, will take you through the presentation. The press release, our IR presentation, and detailed financial tables are available on our website under Investor Relations. Management comments during this call include forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. Please review the Safe Harbor Statement in today's presentation and in our 2025 Annual Report for information on the relevant risk factors. Chris?

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. In the third quarter, demand stayed subdued in many end markets while geopolitical tensions continued to create volatility in energy, raw material, and logistics costs. In this environment, we are moving decisively to strengthen our competitiveness, raise operating performance, and sharpen capital allocation. Our results show WACKER is making tangible progress on the factors we control. Group sales increased by 9% year-over-year 1.47 billion supported primarily by pricing action and a better volume and product. Reported EBDA was 217 million Euro, including 35 million of special income in polysilicon from the cancellation of a solar contract. Excluding this effect, operating EBDA rose 63% to 182 million, up from 112 million A year ago. Pays remains central for our improved operating performance. While cost-related savings of more than 60 million in the third quarter, year-to-date savings totaled 145 million. And with this, we are pretty much on track. You will notice that our net debt declined materially in the quarter. There were two extraordinary effects in cash flow. We sold down our stake in Siltronic to below 15%, and we changed the funding arrangement for phased retirement obligations. These two effects contributed $290 million to a net cash flow of $476 million. Tobias will address this later in more detail. Now, looking to the segments, in chemicals, pace, pricing, and improved mix strengthened profitability. In biosolutions, sales in biopharma and life science chemicals developed well. In polysilicon, semiconductor grade volumes continued to grow while solar remained weak. In August, the U.S. Section 232 Proclamation established a minimum import price program and tariffs on polysilicon derivatives. In its current framework, it does not achieve its objective to revitalize the U.S. polysilicon sector. Specifically, it does not incentivize the use of US-made polysilicon and hence is a disappointment for us. We remain engaged in constructive discussions with the administration. For the time being, we will maintain the previously disclosed two scenarios in polysilicon. They are the semi-end-solar scenario and the semi-only scenario. We will not rush a decision, but we will act. Once clarity and certainty have been established. At our Capital Markets Day in September, we introduced Refocus, the next chapter in our evolution. It's a holistic approach to improve how we operate, compete, and create value. Our key message is simple. WACKER has leading businesses, leading technologies, and leading market positions. We have invested in our global footprint in technology platforms and in capabilities. Refocus is the next step. It is about leveraging our strength, increasing profitability and becoming more selective in where we invest and grow. With Refocus, we have taken bold steps to adapt to a more challenging market environment. We have clear strategic priorities for structure and processes, business model and value creation, and people in touch. Together, these actions are creating a leaner, faster, and more efficient organization. They are the foundation for our structural financial ambitions. We aim to drive GDP plus growth by improving mix and making selective investments in accelerate growth businesses. We aim to raise our structural EBDA margin to 15% plus minus two percentage points and aim to get ROSI back as soon as possible to above 10% and our cost of capital. The levers are defined. Higher EBDA from selective growth and pace, strict capital discipline that leverages our existing asset base, and tighter working capital management. This is how we lift returns while keeping the balance sheet strong. We have a plan in place. Our business priorities are clear. Selected growth in attractive markets, profitability, and ROSI. Our ambition is not simply to manage through a difficult cycle. It is to emerge from it as more focused, more profitable, and more valuable company. Now turning to the guidance, we confirm our full year EBDA range of 625 to 750 million euros. After good operating performance and special income in the first nine months, we expect the full year EBDA to be in the upper half of that range. Pace is on track and delivering visible improvements. We implemented a portfolio management playbook. We protected margins and managed costs, and we improved our resilience and maintained solid financials. The external environment, however, remains difficult. We do not see a broad recovery in our end markets. Competition remains intense, and the US trade framework for polysilicon remains unresolved. Despite these persistent headwinds, WACKER enters this new phase from a position of strength. We have leading technologies, strong market positions, and a high-quality asset base built through years of targeted investment. The focus now is execution with urgency and discipline. Through refocus, we are concentrating on the opportunities that are within our control to improve profitability, increase returns, Accelerate Value Creation. We are confident that this will unlock upside in earnings and strengthen Bacchus competitiveness for the long term. With that, let me hand over to Tobias.