FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AP) – Germany Siemens AG, global maker of big-ticket machines and industrial equipment and software, saw net profit rise 20 per cent to EUR1.8 billion in the last three months of 2021 as the rebounding global economy increased orders for its goods, including an EUR1-billion order for high speed trains in Germany.
The company yesterday confirmed its outlook for increased earnings going forward and proposed an increased dividend of EUR4 per share for its last fiscal year, up from EUR3.50 in fiscal 2020.
Chief Executive Officer Roland Busch said the company had “a very successful start” in the October-December quarter, the first of its fiscal year. Siemens experienced what Busch called an “unprecedented boom” in new orders, which rose 52 per cent from a year earlier.
It is a key figure for the company because orders for large-scale projects that may take months or years to complete underpin future earnings and reflect economic optimism and willingness to invest in the major markets of China, Europe and the United States (US).
Siemens’ outlook “is based on continuing healthy growth in global GDP, albeit with slowing momentum”.
Its projects have faced hurdles from renewed COVID-19 outbreaks and supply chain delays like the rest of the global economy, but Siemens said it expects those challenges to ease this year.
The company saw strong results and orders from its factory automation and industrial software business, which turned in just under an EUR1-billion in earnings, with a fat profit margin of 22 per cent.
