By Christof Rührmair, dpa I Monday, August 07, 2023
MUNICH – Siemens Energy said on today that it recorded a net loss of €2.9 billion ($3.2 billion) in the third fiscal quarter, the most since the company was formed in 2020 as a spin-off of German industrial manufacturer Siemens.
The disappointing results were largely attributed to charges at the struggling wind turbine subsidiary Siemens Gamesa and related negative tax effects.
Group revenue increased by 8% on a comparable basis to €7.5 billion. The Munich-based company now forecasts a record loss of €4.5 billion for the financial year that runs until the end of September.
Fresh woes emerged in June at Gamesa, the problem child of Siemens Energy. At that time, Gamesa said an increase in failure rates of wind turbine components – including rotor blades and bearings – would hit the company hard.
More details were revealed in Monday’s earnings report for the April to June period: Siemens Energy expects €1.6 billion in costs for necessary repairs and replacements of flaws in its onshore turbines.
“Our third-quarter results demonstrate the challenges in turning around Siemens Gamesa. The strong performance of our other business areas gives me confidence in our company’s ability to put businesses back on a strong footing”, said Siemens Energy chief executive Christian Bruch.
Siemens Energy was spun off from Siemens three years ago and taken public. Since then, the group has not closed a fiscal year in the black, as problems with Gamesa caused profit outlooks to be slashed and pushed the numbers deep into the red.
In order to get a better grip on the situation, Energy completely took over the wind power subsidiary last year by securing the outstanding shares it did not own.
Analysts say Bruch’s future is likely to depend on whether and how quickly the wind turbine problems are solved.
