Citing ‘strong offshore performance,’ Siemens reports that its wind division generated EUR 179 million in profits during the fourth quarter of 2013 (Q4'13) – a 34% increase year-over-year.
The Q4'13 wind profits are an improvement over the EUR 22 million Siemens saw in the third quarter. At the time, the company said the Q3'13 results were hindered by EUR 91 million in charges related to inspecting and retrofitting its B53 rotor blades. In two separate instances, the blades had broken off, and a company investigation later revealed an adhesive bonding failure as the root cause.
According to Siemens, its 4Q'13 growth was due mainly to offshore wind farms in Europe. The company says it is still feeling the effects of an order gap in the U.S. in 2012, which was caused by uncertainty regarding the production tax credit. (However, the company has just received a 1 GW order for Iowa wind farms.)
Cumulatively – i.e., across all of Siemens' sectors – Q4'13 profits have actually declined to EUR 1.609 billion, down from EUR 1.932 billion the same period a year ago. Siemens says the drop is associated with the "successful execution" of its Siemens 2014 improvement program, a previously instituted initiative meant to reduce company costs by over $8 billion.
As part of its Siemens 2014 program, the company is currently in the process of cutting about 15,000 jobs globally across its many businesses by the end of 2014; it remains unclear how many workers – if any – in the company's wind division could be affected.
Commenting on Siemens' Q4'13 results, company president and CEO Joe Kaeser says, ‘With a solid fourth quarter, we completed an eventful year in fiscal 2013. Now we're looking ahead and concentrating on measures aimed at improving our profitability, which we are implementing rigorously and prudently."
The full financial report is available HERE.
