Siemens plans temporary shutdown of power and gas sites

• 5 years ago (2018-05-08)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Gas 371

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Siemens has said that the weakness in the world power generation market has resulted in it taking the decision to temporarily close its Power and Gas Division operations around the world.

The company said that it would close these sites after the Pentecost holiday, which falls on 20 May this year. However, Siemens said that the details would depend on “local regulation.” In a press release, Siemens said: “Against the background of an ongoing unprecedented downswing in the market for power generation equipment, the Power and Gas Division (PG) is planning temporary shutdowns.” It said that the closures would affect “all PG locations worldwide within the current quarter,” and would last for seven days. “The shutdowns are part of a comprehensive package of measures, which also includes issues such as travel costs, sponsoring, participation in trade faits, and investments.”

In Siemens’ fiscal first quarter through end-December, the division’s profit nearly halved, and its profit margin shrank from 12 per cent to 7.6 per cent, well below the target range of 11-15 per cent.

Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens, said that while there would continue to be a global market for gas turbines, it would be smaller, and the focus would move away from Europe.