Wolfgang Büchele has been appointed Kemira Oyj's President and CEO following Harri Kerminen's retirement

11-02-2011: Harri Kerminen will retire on April 1, 2012 after successfully leading the company through a major strategic change into a water chemistry company and turning the company around to a profitable path. This last assignment completes his 26 years of successful career at Kemira.

Wolfgang Büchele (PhD, Chemistry) has been appointed Kemira Oyj's President and CEO as of April 1, 2012. He has been a member of Kemira's Board of Directors since 2009.

"Kemira's Board of Directors started the CEO succession process this summer due to Harri Kerminen's anticipated retirement in 2013. The process was faster than expected and therefore we agreed with Harri Kerminen that he will retire earlier than planned. As a member of Kemira's pension fund he has the right for this", says Pekka Paasikivi, the Chairman of the Board.

Wolfgang Büchele will bring to Kemira extensive and broad industrial knowledge combined with international experience and network, especially in the fast developing Asian markets. He has spent most of his career, from 1993 until 2007 in BASF's Fine Chemicals organization in Europe, China and United States. Since 2009 he has been member of the Board and CEO of BorsodChem Zrt. in Hungary. He and his family will move to Finland.

 

Following a Strong First Quarter, Wacker Expects Further Growth

Following a strong first quarter, Wacker Chemie AG expects further sales and earnings gains for full-year 2011. Rudolf Staudigl, CEO of the Munich-based chemical company, underscored this point at Wacker’s 2011 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. “Wacker is poised for further growth,” he said. Staudigl reaffirmed the full-year forecast and said that sales should cross the €5-billion mark, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) should exceed 2010’s €1.19 billion level.

Of 2010’s Group net income of €497.0 million (2009: €-74.5 million), Wacker is paying out a total of €159.0 million (2009: €59.6 million) to its shareholders. The dividend per dividend-entitled share is €3.20 (2009: €1.20). The Executive and Supervisory Boards’ other proposals were also adopted by large majorities.

Following a very good fiscal 2010, Wacker further increased both sales and earnings in Q1 2011. Sales at the Munich-based chemicals Group climbed 21 percent to €1.29 billion from January through March 2011 (Q1 2010: €1.07 billion) – primarily due to higher sales volumes. A positive market environment and strong customer demand fueled Wacker’s continued business growth. The sales gain was additionally supported by higher prices in some key product segments. EBITDA achieved even stronger growth, climbing to €351.0 million in Q1 2011 (Q1 2010: €253.7 million), up 38 percent.

“After a short lull, Wacker has resumed its growth trajectory,” said CEO Rudolf Staudigl, addressing the company’s shareholders in Munich on Wednesday. “The broad economic recovery, spanning every industry, contributed substantially to our strong performance last year. Other factors were just as important, though. When demand slumped in 2009, we neither questioned our strategic course, nor did we abandon our sound core financial policies,” the CEO underscored. According to Staudigl, the Group will continue its efforts this year to enhance cost structures, processes and competitiveness. He added that Wacker was optimistic about the future in light of steady strong customer demand.