Güler Sabancı to join Siemens Supervisory Board

ALİ MERCİMEK Munich - Hürriyet

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Sabancı Group chairman Güler Sabancı has been elected to German technology giant Siemens’ Supervisory Board, earning the votes of 98 percent of the members.

Siemens Chairman of the Board Peter Löscher and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Gerhard Cromme were the first to congratulate Sabancı, the candidate earning the highest amount of votes, during her presentation to over 8,000 members at Munich’s Olympic Stadium.

Sabancı’s affiliation will increase women’s participation on the board and her contribution to international relations will be substantial, Cromme said in his presentation speech praising the new board member.

During the assembly, importance of handing over the reins to younger and female members was consistently highlighted and Güler Sabancı was in the limelight throughout the speeches at the General Assembly, attended by all Siemens stakeholders and investment partners.

Güler Sabancı will be the second woman in the official audit management of the Munich-based company, along with Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller from the Trump Group.

Werner Wenning, chairman of E.ON, who recently partnered with Sabancı, and Gerard Mestrallet, chairman of the French energy giant GDF Suez, are among the new members of the board.

In response to a member question, Cromme said the general assembly cost the company 4.5 million euro.

Financial figures

Siemens Group’s financial figures were also revealed during the assembly. The company’s revenue loss was announced at 1 percent for the October-December period, which has been considered substantially low compared to previous years.

Revenue climbed 2 percent to 18.13 billion euro despite a 3 percent drop in orders to 19.14 billion euro. However, representatives of thousands of shareholders expressed their disappointment over profit margins remaining unchanged.

The company also announced the sales of problematic solar energy units as talks with potential buyers continue.