Siemens Gamesa (SG) starts this year with profits earning 11 million net (Red numbers of 174 million in the same period of 2020, when it closed with a total loss of 918 million).
Net operating profit (Ebit) also had a positive record. Of 14 million compared to the losses of 229 million in the previous stage.
In the first accounting quarter, from October to December, net debt reached 476 million. It has a funding of 4.4 billion, of which it had only 1.3 billion. The renewable corporation has a backlog of $ 30.1 billion, which rose 7% earlier this year due to investments in the energy transition around the world.
Andreas Nauen, CEO of SG, insisted on his strategy of “prioritizing profitability over volume”. An approach that led to the closure of four factories in Spain. In a meeting with analysts, the manager added that “we are not done yet” with the “simplification” of the onshore wind division.
Beatriz Puente, the corporation’s chief financial officer, commented that the restructuring costs will increase in the coming quarters, when the compensation for the 266 redundancies due to the closure of the plants in As Somozas (Lugo) and Cuenca will be accounted for. Funding for the adjustments will continue in 2022 and 2023, according to Puente.
SG also pulled the blinds at a factory in India. Instead, it is building a gondola and blade factory in the French port of Le Havre to meet its offshore wind orders on the French market. Nauen is pleased with the productivity of the Vagos Center (Portugal), which has collected more than a hundred loops in eight months. The empowerment of Vagos led to the liquidation of the As Somozas facilities.
Offshore wind will be the key to triggering sales figures, due to the scale of these projects. It has 9.3 GW in its portfolio and participates in auctions with 25 GW in the auction. The group expects new orders to be placed in the coming quarters after a period of weakness. In fact, no orders were placed for wind turbines from October to December offshore.
Pandemic
In the field of onshore wind, the smaller contribution of the Chinese market and the weakness of the Indian market are taking effect. The pandemic has slowed the pace of work in this division, especially when facilities were set up in the United States. SG is confident of an improvement in the situation in the coming quarters “and as vaccination campaigns are extended”. The impact of Covid-19 on its activity from October to December was smaller than that suffered in 2020.
The 67% Siemens Energy subsidiary advanced some data from the first quarter this week. Among them, net operating income before restructuring costs (Ebit pre PPA), with a profit of 121 million, compared to losses of 136 million in the same period last year.
Figures transferring a sales margin of 5.3%. In this section, the costs of adjustments, such as compensation for the 266 redundancies due to the recent announcement of the closure of the Cuenca and As Somozas (Lugo) factories, are not charged. SG had previously closed the Aoiz (Navarra) and Miranda de Ebro (Burgos) centers in Spain.
SG revenues at the beginning of the accounting year increased in double figures, by up to 15% more, and reached 2.3 billion. This increase in sales is explained by offshore wind projects that started years ago and are now billed. The devaluation of some currencies has played in relation to the turnover of a group that operates on almost all continents.
Orders that entered the quarter reached 2.3 billion. A halving, because in this case the long-term offshore wind business cycles did not fall within the closing dates of the first quarter.
Ground turbine contracts and the maintenance division have added business, which is also the one that leaves the largest margin in this sector.
Siemens Gamesa has confirmed its forecasts for this year. Its sales will be between 10,200 and 11,200 million. The Ebit pre PPA margin will be in the range of 3% to 5%.