Siemens Reports Solid 4Q Results But Outlines Conservative Guidance -- Earnings Review

By Kim Richters

Siemens AG released results for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30 on Thursday. Here's what you need to know:

NET PROFIT: Siemens posted net profit of 1.76 billion euros ($2.07 billion) for the quarter, compared with EUR1.32 billion a year earlier and analysts' expectations of EUR1.72 billion. For its full fiscal year, profit came in at EUR4.03 billion, down from EUR5.17 billion prior-year.

REVENUE: Siemens's revenue for the quarter fell 6% to EUR15.31 billion euros, missing analysts' forecast of EUR15.50 billion, according to a consensus of analysts' forecasts compiled by the company. Full-year revenue fell to EUR57.14 billion from EUR58.48 billion.

ORDERS: Quarterly orders declined 1% to EUR15.56 billion, but came in above analysts consensus forecasts of EUR15.48 billion. Full-year orders came in at EUR59.98 billion compared with EUR64.68 billion.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

--GUIDANCE: Looking ahead, Siemens doesn't expect the coronavirus pandemic to have a long-lasting impact on the global economy but warned that some customer industries continue to face pandemic-related challenges. For the current fiscal year 2021, Siemens expects moderate growth for its comparable revenue and sees after-tax profit increasing moderately from fiscal 2020's EUR4.2 billion. It forecasts currency headwinds burdening its revenue, orders and industrial profit in the year. Analysts at Berenberg and Jefferies have called the company's new guidance conservative but said Siemens's fourth quarter was solid overall.

--STRATEGY: After recently selling subsidiary Flender GmbH and spinning off and listing Siemens Energy AG, Siemens said Thursday that it will carve out its traffic business Intelligent Traffic Systems from the mobility unit and create a separately managed company. DZ Bank analyst Thorsten Reigber said Siemens's restructuring process was on the right track.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2020 09:07 ET (14:07 GMT)

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