Gamesa held its Shareholders’ General Meeting, at second call, today in Zamudio (Vizcaya), at which its shareholders approved its 2014 financial statements and the company’s management throughout the year.
During his speech, Ignacio Martín, Chairman of Gamesa, reviewed the 2014 earnings performance, labelling it a “very positive” year in which the company surpassed all the guidance set for the year, including its sales growth, profitability and balance sheet reinforcement targets. He went on to note that the “first-quarter 2015 results have evidenced continued momentum in our profitable growth trajectory”.
“Having overcome several challenging years, we are poised for the start of a new era. Gamesa is today a company that is bigger in scale and more diversified, more effective, more flexible, more profitable, more financially robust and one with a more entrenched culture. Today we are ready to tackle new challenges”, he explained.
Gamesa’s Chairman highlighted the company’s astute commercial positioning as one of the keys to its performance, noting that this positioning has led the group to become the leading OEM by market share in India and Mexico, the number-two player in Brazil, and one of the top five players in the US and several European markets.
He also underscored the fact that the company’s effort to maintain a lean fixed cost structure and further streamline its processes had resulted in a breakeven level that “would enable us to remain profitable even if demand were to contract”.
He also said that Gamesa’s strong business performance had been mirrored in the company’s share price performance, noting that the shares have gained 1,000% since the business plan was launched in October 2012, been trading at over €12 in the early months of 2015. “This healthy performance has enabled us to renew dividend payments”, he added, “with the distribution of 25% of consolidated 2014 net profit”, a motion approved at today’s General Meeting, he added.
In addition to the company’s organic growth, the Chairman of Gamesa alluded to the launch of Adwen, the joint venture set up with Areva to tackle the offshore business. “I am convinced that this alliance will deliver profitable growth, complementing our traditional business and generating significant synergies for the company” he underscored.
Martín also reminded the company’s shareholders of the plans to present the new 2005-17 Business Plan to the market on 16 June. “And so starts a new era for Gamesa, in which we will continue to work on delivering profitable growth in order to create value on a sustained basis for all of our stakeholders”.
Expansion of the Board
Among the agenda items ratified, the shareholders notably voted to increase the size of the company’s Board of Directors from 10 to 12 members. “We believe that a bigger board will provide a better fit for the company’s scale and make room for a more diversified range of professional backgrounds” said Martín.
Accordingly, the company’s shareholders ratified the appointments of Francisco Javier Villalba, as proprietary director, in replacement of Manuel Moreu, and of Gloria Hernández and Andoni Cendoya, as independent directors, who will shore up the Board’s financial and industrial expertise and bring interesting business insight.
Martín also took advantage of his General Meeting speech to highlight the fact that in 2014 Gamesa rolled out its Diversity & Inclusion Policy, applicable worldwide and designed to prevent all forms of discrimination. “This diversity is what makes Gamesa – a company made up of over 6,400 people of 50 different nationalities – a more innovative, creative, sensitive and socially-committed company”, said the company’s Chairman.
