Ruset, Siemens: We are growing because we do not feel the crisis and want acquisitions

The team of the Energy Products Solutions & Services Division increased from 5 to 50 people in the past five years, and the company has not and will not stop recruiting.

“The increase in our business on the energy segment was 30-40 percent in the past two years. We expect the same growth rate in 2009, as the company and the market seem to be unaffected by the crisis at the moment,” Ruset said.

Siemens SRL’s Energy Products Solutions & Services Division has good cash-flow, is carefully monitoring expenses, and is expecting new contracts, to be in line with the forecasted growth of the business, said the company official. According to the latest financial data, net sales increased some 20 percent last year.

“In this period, we can expand and make acquisitions of services and energy equipment. There was an acquisition scheduled for next year, but if the opportunity shows up this year, we will not think twice,” said Ruset.

Siemens SRL, one of the local subsidiaries of the German Siemens group, posted over €321 million in net sales last year, down 11.5 percent from the previous fiscal year, as results were influenced by global restructuring and the externalization of the telecommunications division.

The German group expects a double-digit increase in its local businesses in 2009, in spite of the financial crisis, considering high demand for equipment in the energy sector and the growth of its oil and gas division.