STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Wacker slips on weak silicon figs

Shares in Wacker Chemie (WCHG.DE) fall 5 percent, making them the top decliners among German midcaps .MDAXI, after the chemicals company releases largely in-line second-quarter figures that include disappointing numbers for its polysilicon and silicon wafer units.

"Siltronic (the company's silicon wafer unit) took a heftier beating than anticipated," says Unicredit analyst Christian Weiz, adding the unit's EBITDA loss of 58 million euros is well ahead of the brokerage's estimate of a loss of 43 million euros.

Equinet analyst Sebastian Growe says: "Siltronic's profitability (even on adjusted basis) remains under severe pressure."

"However, the most striking aspect, in our view, is the Poly-Silicon division, in which sales dropped 15 percent quarter-on-quarter despite higher outputs and an EBIT-margin decline by around 5 percentage points quarter-on-quarter."

Growe says Wacker's uncertain outlook for the rest of the year calls into question the strong gains which its shares have seen since early March.

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