The successes in other divisions are regularly wiped out by high losses at Siemens Gamesa.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich In view of the quality problems at the wind power subsidiary Gamesa, which cost billions, the Dax group Siemens Energy is setting up a special committee of the supervisory board. According to industry circles on Thursday, the board should be headed by Vice-Supervisory Board Hubert Lienhard. Siemens Energy declined to comment.
Siemens Gamesa has been in crisis for years and regularly pulls the parent company into the red. At the end of June, the specialist for renewable energies shocked the markets with new negative news: Massive quality problems in some turbines could cost more than a billion euros in the coming years.
The Siemens Energy share price fell by more than a third – this is extremely unusual for a Dax group.
Siemens Energy: The supervisory board was also surprised by the billions
The Handelsblatt had already reported on the possible appointment of a special committee. In addition to ex-Voith boss Lienhard, the committee should also include Siemens board member Matthias Rebellius and IG Metall board member Jürgen Kerner, confirmed industry circles. The “Wirtschaftswoche” reported about it first.
The supervisory board needs comprehensive information on how big the problems can get in the worst case and how they should be eliminated, an inspector told the Handelsblatt. The other supervisory boards were also surprised by the extent of the disaster.
The still major shareholder Siemens and investors are concerned about the ongoing problems. “We are shocked by the extent of the new problems surrounding wind turbines,” said Felix Schröder from Union Investment. Now it is up to the management to “better understand the problems to be solved and to communicate a realistic way of improvement”.
>> Read also: Gamesa shock for supervisory boards and investors: This is how Siemens Energy continues
Due to the new burdens, Siemens Energy had to accept its earnings forecast for the fiscal year running until the end of September and now expects losses to continue to rise significantly.
After the news, Siemens reduced its direct stake in Siemens Energy from 31.9 to 25.1 percent. For this purpose, shares were transferred to a pension fund. The group intends to further reduce its stake. However, this has become much more difficult due to the price drop at Siemens Energy.
In order to finally get the problems under control, Siemens Energy took over the wind power subsidiary completely and now wants to integrate it. According to information from company circles, the Siemens management was not convinced of this step. By purchasing the remaining Gamesa shares, Siemens Energy has further increased the risks at great expense. In hindsight, this view is more likely to be confirmed.
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