Siemens, the German electronics and engineering giant, said today that restructuring costs in the first three months of its current business year had
resulted in a fall in net profit.
Siemens, which runs its business year from October to September, said in a statement that it had booked net profit of €813m in the three months to December, down 19% on the year-earlier figure. The figure was lower than expected - consensus forecasts had put first-quarter net profit at around €883m.
Operating profit also declined, falling by 10% to €1.402 billion, also at the bottom end of analysts' expectations.
By contrast, sales rose by 22% to €20.719 billion and new orders jumped by 31% to €26.788 billion, boosted by an unusual number of big-ticket orders. Siemens declined to provide any forecast for the full year.
