Ignacio Martín: “Gamesa has a promising future ahead of it”
Gamesa held its Shareholders’ General Meeting, at second call, recently in Zamudio (Vizcaya, Spain), at which its shareholders approved its 2015 financial statements and the company’s management throughout the year.Among the items approved today, it is worth highlighting the ratification of the appointments of Gema Góngora and Sonsoles Rubio as proprietary directors and of Ignacio Martín as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gamesa. In addition, the Board has agreed to distribute a cash dividend from 2015 profits of €0.1524 per share.
During his presentation, Ignacio Martín referred to the new 2015-2017 Business Plan, presented to the market last year having delivered the prior plan targets ahead of schedule, which is focused on consolidating the company’s profitable growth and creating value for shareholders.“We have successfully completed year one of this plan, harvesting results which have topped all forecasts, enabling us to bring the guidance initially set for 2017 forward by one year”, highlighted Ignacio Martín.
One of the keys to this performance, stressed Gamesa’s Chairman, was the company’s solid sales and technology strategy, marked by leadership in the right blend of emerging and mature markets. As a result, the company has climbed to fourth position on the latest global ranking of onshore OEMs compiled by MAKE Consultancy: more specifically, it ranked as the #1 OEM in India and Mexico and the #2 player in Brazil; it was the number one foreign manufacturer by capacity instalments in the all-important Chinese market and ranked in the top ten in all geographic regions.
Ignacio Martín sought to emphasise the search for additional growth opportunities such as the company’s penetration of the solar and offgrid segments during the past year. In just one year, the company has secured orders for close to 100 MW of solar power capacity in India and rolled out its maiden offgrid prototype for the supply of power to remote areas without grid access.Gamesa’s excellent performance was reflected in its share price, which gained 109% in 2015 to €15.82 per share, despite the fact that most stock market indices corrected last year.
Promising future for Gamesa
The Chairman of Gamesa took advantage of the forum to refer to the recently-announced merger with Siemens. He stressed that the company has a “promising future”, as it will become “one of the global leaders in the wind power industry”.Ignacio Martín emphasised Gamesa’s commitment to maintaining its Spanish ties –it will remain listed in Spain-, reminding that the transaction will require the approval of the company’s shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be called shortly.
He told his audience that the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, will deliver benefits for everyone comprising Gamesa: shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers alike. He wrapped up by saying, “we have enthralling times ahead of us”.
