Siemens to spin off gas and power business

Siemens has revealed plans to spin off its gas and power business into a separate listed company.

The new entity will take ownership of the German conglomerate’s 59 per cent stake in wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa.

“This move will create a powerful pure play in the energy and electricity sector with a unique, integrated setup – an enterprise that encompasses the entire scope of the energy market like no other company,” said Siemens president and chief executive Joe Kaesar.

“Combining our portfolio for conventional power generation with power supply from renewable energies will enable us to fully meet customer demand. It will also allow us to provide an optimised and, when necessary, combined range of offerings from a single source.”

Siemens’ chief executive for gas and power Lisa Davis said: “Being independent will enable us to more effectively leverage our position of strength to further support our customers in rapidly changing energy markets.

“Global electrification continues to be vital to economic and environmental progress around the world, and as the only company with a leading portfolio along the entire energy value chain – in both conventional and renewable energy – we are uniquely able to help both public- and private-sector customers benefit from these developments.

“We’ll now have more freedom and agility to be able to concentrate fully on the highly specific and quickly changing requirements of our markets and customers.”

A special shareholder meeting is expected to be held in June 2020 to confirm the decision.

The announcement came as Siemens reported a 4 per cent year-on-year drop in revenues from its gas and power business in its second half results for 2019 to €2.8 billion, alongside a 38 per cent increase in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation) to €156 million.

Revenues from Siemens Gamesa rose 7 per cent to €2.4 billion, while its adjusted EBITDA grew by a quarter to €146 million.