SIEMENS FALLS INTO THE RED IN THE THIRD QUARTER ON IMPAIRMENT
ZURICH (Reuters) – Siemens saw its quarterly accounts fall into the red for the first time in nearly 12 years due to a write-down on Siemens Energy, but its third-quarter revenue came in above expectations.
The German industrial group said it had spent in the third quarter a depreciation of 2.8 billion euros on the value of its stake in Siemens Energy, resulting in a net loss of 1.66 billion euros.
Over the quarter, its revenues grew by 11% to 17.87 billion euros, where analysts expected an average of 17.47 billion euros.
This quarterly loss, the first since the fourth quarter of 2010, forced Siemens to revise downwards its forecast of earnings per share for the whole of its financial year, now expected between 5.33 and 5.73 euros per share against 8, 70 to 9.10 euros previously.
Siemens owns 35% of the capital of Siemens Energy which has had two difficult years since its split in 2020, with operational difficulties and losses in its wind turbine division Siemens Gamesa.
Siemens CEO Roland Busch, however, said demand remained strong, despite an environment affected by sanctions against Russia, inflationary pressures and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have seized significant opportunities in a market environment where demand remains high,” said Roland Busch, quoted in a press release.
“Our strong revenue momentum continued, with comparable orders growing 20% since the start of fiscal 2022,” he added.
(Report John Revill, French version Matthieu Protard, edited by Kate Entringer)