Wacker Chemie warns of weak first quarter on energy costs, low prices

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German specialty chemicals maker Wacker Chemie warned that core earnings would fall significantly in the first quarter of 2019, blaming high energy costs and lower prices for polysilicon, which it supplies to the solar industry.

"From today's perspective, 2019 is not going to be an easy year," Chief Executive Rudolf Staudigl said as the group published final results for 2018, along with an unchanged dividend proposal of 2.50 euros per share.

Shares in the group were indicated 2.1 percent lower in pre-market trade, the biggest decliners among German midcap stocks.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, editing by Louise Heavens)