Countdown for Siemens Gamesa: six years of power struggle, 20 dismissals of key positions and the last SOS to the Government
Siemens Gamesa faces its countdown before a new restructuring, perhaps the definitive one. The world's third largest manufacturer of wind turbines and the spearhead of this industry in Spain is experiencing a dramatic contrast. On the one hand, the European commitment to the energy transition places the company in a sector that is the subject of multi-million dollar investments.
On the other hand, the workers of the nine Spanish factories that are still under the umbrella of the wind giant (eight of them for sale) are holding their breath after last week Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, internally admitted to the unions that the company had renounced contracts for 1,000 million euros and that it expected to close the year with 4,500 million losses, according to sources from the social agents. The announcement disconcerted the market more than it did a staff that has been suffering a power war between Berlin and Vizcaya for six years.. The first one won the match a long time ago.
The Basque Gamesa debuted on the stock market in 2000, almost 24 years after beginning its journey.. A year later it made a place for itself on the Ibex 35. Since its jump to the market and until 2016, just before the arrival of the German giant Siemens, it obtained profits every year, with the exception of 2012, when it closed with 659 million euros of losses before the only restructuring that the firm had carried out until then. .
It was in 2017 when the wedding between Siemens and Gamesa took place, through a merger by absorption by which the Spanish company was integrated into the renewable subsidiary of the German company and adopted the name Siemens Gamesa.. The operation was sealed with the approval of Iberdrola, then a reference shareholder of Gamesa.. The capital of the resulting company was distributed 59% to the German group and 8% to Iberdrola.. The company closed the year with a profit of 118 million.
The merger was turbulent from the beginning. Soon the trickle of dismissals of managers who had held key positions at the former Gamesa began.. To date, union sources estimate that there are more than twenty key profiles that left the national division in a context of continuous tensions between the German and Spanish leadership.. Names such as Xabier Etxeberría, then executive general director, or Ignacio Artazcoz, general financial director, made headlines at the time of their departure, in 2017, when the merged company suffered its first stock market crash.
The most famous case was that of Rosa García who, after seven years at the head of the company of which she was then president, left Siemens Gamesa in 2018.. Today, the board presides over the energy company Exolum and sits on the Board of Directors of leaders such as EDPR, Mapfre or Sener.. The loss has not only been of managers. During this time, the company has closed four of its industrial centers in Spain, with the relocation of blade manufacturing to Portugal.
Restructuring
The German company already reported last fall of its intention to eliminate 2,900 jobs, 475 of them in Spain, where today the workforce amounts to 4,800 employees.. The group had closed the year with losses amounting to 1,226 million euros. With this background, the recent announcement by Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, has set off alarm bells among the Spanish workforce, where they expect office and plant closures.. In fact, according to market sources, the German group held advanced negotiations for the sale of eight of its factories, with some 1,200 employees, an operation that the company put on hold a few months ago, when a new obstacle stirred the waters even more.
This summer, the energy company discounted to the market an impact of more than 1,000 million (which it later raised to around 2,000) due to technical problems with some of its machines.. According to industry sources, these deficiencies would prevent the company from meeting the efficiency commitments signed with its clients, which guarantee for its products between 95% and 97% activity during windy hours.. This percentage would be reduced due to these technical problems, which will force the company to compensate its clients.
This is what Eickholt's announcement regarding the multimillion-dollar loss of contracts is blamed for.. “If I, as CEO, announce that I have given up that volume of orders, they will fire me the next day,” says the CEO of another renewable multinational. “No one in the market has understood this movement.”
Spokespersons for UGT FICA, the majority union in the group's corporate offices, held a meeting a few days ago with the acting Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez. This was the first contact between the union and the head of the department who replaced Reyes Maroto at the head of the Ministry in March.. In this face to face, the union informed the minister of the seriousness of the situation. Gómez, according to sources present at the meeting, indicated the ministry's willingness to collaborate as necessary, although, within the framework of a functioning Government, few significant actions are expected.
Aside from its particular via crucis, the serious financial tensions faced by Siemens Gamesa are part of a complex situation that has put European mill manufacturers in check.. Namely, a delay in administrative permits that prevent projects from starting, manufacturing costs triggered by inflation and bottlenecks in supply chains.
All this is making red the most widespread color among the results of the main wind companies in the European Union, such as Vestas or Nordex.. In the case of Siemens Energy, the company will publish its annual results on November 15 with the latest forecast of 4.5 billion losses as a prelude.. A week later, on the 21st, it will celebrate its Capital Markets Day, where it will announce the pertinent restructuring. In Spain, the unions are already preparing to take to the streets.