The crisis at the wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa continues, although attenuated compared to the previous year. The Basque division of Siemens Energy lost 426 million euros during the first fiscal quarter (October to December) according to the results published this Tuesday by the German company. The amount of losses is reduced to almost half of the 759 million losses recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
The division maintains the sale of its generators for wind energy on land (On shore) suspended and will do so, as acknowledged by the CEO, Christian Bruch in a conference with journalists held today “at least until 2025.” Bruch explained that Gamesa has suffered in the last year “a high cash outflow due to losses and an accumulation of net operating working capital in a seasonally weak quarter” that has impacted the cash flow of Siemens Energy, (negative 58 million ), but not in the results.
Gamesa’s parent company has recovered the green numbers and earned 1,582 million euros in its first fiscal quarter, although beyond a “better than expected” business evolution, the company’s profits are derived from the sale of the stake. of 18% in its Indian subsidiary to its parent company Siemens AG for 2.1 billion euros.
This sale was one of the measures to obtain liquidity that were adopted at Siemens Energy last November when the company was forced to request state aid in Germany to avoid bankruptcy. At that time, the German State provided 7.5 billion euros in public guarantees that allowed the company to access the liquidity necessary to maintain economic activity. A consortium of German banks joined them with a contribution of 4.5 billion.
The needs claimed by Siemens Energy amounted to 15,000 million, so at that time it was decided that the remaining 3,000 million would be provided by the states in which Siemens had a greater presence outside of Germany. Among them, Spain. The Spanish Government confirmed its commitment and determination to contribute to the salvation of Gamesa’s business. But neither then nor now have details been given about the amount committed for that aid.
The only thing that was clear is that it would be articulated through CESCE via loans. Neither the Ministry of Industry, nor the Ministry of Economy nor the economic office of Moncloa, with whom La Vanguardia has contacted, have offered information on how the promised aid has materialized. Along the same lines, Christian Bruch, the CEO of Siemens Energy, has confirmed the good harmony that exists with the Spanish authorities. He recalled that he had a bilateral meeting with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in Davos, but “I cannot give more details,” he responded to questions from La Vanguardia.
