MADRID (Reuters) -Struggling wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa on Wednesday named a new chief executive for the second time in less than two years, just over 10 days after issuing the latest in a series of profit warnings.
A veteran of the Siemens group, Jochen Eickholt, will take over from Andreas Nauen as Chief Executive Officer on March 1, the company said in a statement.
“Siemens Gamesa is experiencing significant challenges in its onshore business in a very difficult market,” Siemens Gamesa Chairman Miguel Angel Lopez said.
Siemens Gamesa cut its profit outlook for the third time in nine months in January, dragging down shares in rivals and prompting its parent, Siemens Energy, to step up plans to buy the 33% stake it does not already own.
Nauen formerly headed the successful offshore wind business and was appointed in 2020 to replace Marcus Tacke, who himself served three years in the role after the 2017 merger between Spain’s Gamesa and what was then the wind business of Germany’s Siemens AG.
Eickholt is currently Siemens Energy’s board member responsible for Power Generation and Industrial Applications, as well as Asia-Pacific and China, Siemens Gamesa said in a statement. He has worked at Siemens for more than 20 years.
“We have appointed an executive with a strong track record in managing complex operational situations and in successfully turning around underperforming businesses,” Lopez said.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
