Attack before the general meeting
Major investors fire sharply against the Siemens Energy board
February 19, 2024, 11:33 a.m
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Wind power is in demand worldwide, but Siemens Energy is still deeply in the red. Shortly before the general meeting, large fund companies blame the board of directors for the misery: They speak of management that is neither “forward-looking nor value-creating.”
The two large investment companies Deka and Union Investment do not want to discharge the board of directors of the crisis group Siemens Energy at the general meeting next week. “The collapse in earnings and the support from the state show neither forward-looking nor value-creating management,” said Ingo Speich from Deka Investment to the “Handelsblatt”. Therefore, Deka wants to refuse to discharge the board of directors.
Union Investment is also planning this: “No other company that is still in the DAX today has given investors such high daily losses since 2008 as Siemens Energy did last year,” fund manager Arne Rautenberg told the newspaper. The credibility of capital market communication has suffered greatly due to the ongoing problems in the wind power business. “We see the board of directors as responsible for the drama surrounding (the subsidiary) Siemens Gamesa and will therefore refuse to discharge them.”
Problem subsidiary Gamesa
In industry circles, however, a majority is currently expected for relief, reports the “Handelsblatt”. The energy technology provider Siemens Energy is deep in the red and made a loss of almost 4.6 billion euros in the last financial year due to problems in the wind power business. The company must be supported with government guarantees. The government argues that it is a company that is relevant to the transformation of Germany as a business location.
Siemens Gamesa is one of the largest wind turbine providers in the world, but has been making high losses for a long time. After several years as majority owner, Siemens Energy took over the subsidiary completely in 2022 in order to be able to take better action. Despite growing demand for clean energy, the European wind power industry is suffering from higher material prices, ongoing supply chain disruptions and strong price pressure from competition from China.