Industrial equipment maker Siemens said today that net profits in three months to the end of December fell 17% to €1.457 billion as project delays held down profits and the uncertain global economy cut into order volume.
Siemens chief executive Peter Loescher said the results showed that uncertainty about economic growth stemming from Europe's debt crisis "have left their mark on the real economy" through weaker demand.
Revenues grew 3% to €17.9 billion. New orders however slipped 5%.
Loescher said that the economic environment "would remain difficult in the second quarter and improve after that." But he added that the company would have to "work hard" to meet its goals for the year.
The Munich-based company today said it took €203m in charges from a delay in getting permission to connect offshore windfarms to the power grid in Germany. Loescher said that the company was in "an intensive dialogue" with German government officials on the windfarms.
The company said higher research and investment costs also reduced profit, as did delays in deliverying new high-speed trains to German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.
The train delay was caused by a supplier of equipment which needed to make sure the trains can run on both the German and French rail systems.
Siemens' products include trains, power generators and transmission equipment, and medical diagnostic machines.
