- Net loss in Q1 widened to 598 mln euros
- Shares fall 2.3% in pre-market trade
- Plans to raise up to 1.5 bln euros to help fund Gamesa takeover
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Siemens Energy said on Tuesday its net loss more than doubled in the first quarter, blaming charges related to quality issues at Siemens Gamesa which the German firm is trying to fix via a full takeover of the wind division.
Siemens Energy, which pre-released first-quarter results last month, said its net loss widened to 598 million euros ($641 million) in the October-December period, compared with a loss of 246 million euros in the same period a year earlier.
"This has been a hard blow for us," CEO Christian Bruch told journalists, referring to the 472 million euro charge Siemens Gamesa unveiled last month due to faulty components that led to higher warranty and service costs.
Shares in the group, which according to Chief Financial Officer Maria Ferraro had secured 97.59% of Siemens Gamesa as of Feb. 6, fell 2.3% in pre-market trade.
As part of its move to take over the rest of Siemens Gamesa, which is in the process of being delisted, Siemens Energy plans to raise a maximum of 1.5 billion euros as soon as possible to help fund the transaction, Ferraro said.
Siemens Energy will ask shareholders at its annual general meeting later on Tuesday to allow the issuing of new shares in the future.
Order backlog hit a new record at 98.8 billion euros at the end of December, said the group that was spun off from Siemens, driven by its grid technology division which recorded a major win last month.
The group, in presentation slides, said the order backlog would translate into 22 billion euros of revenues in 2023, 21 billion euros in 2024 and 55 billion in 2025. Service accounts for more than half of the backlog.
($1 = 0.9330 euro)
Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Miranda Murray, Subhranshu Sahu and Kylie MacLellan
Source: Reuters