Siemens income rises 27 percent

Siemens posted upbeat Q3 results in most sectors on Thursday, with net income rising 27 percent to 1.4 billion euros year-on-year. Revenues rose by 1 percent and orders were stable. The company said further revenue and order improvements were stymied by a buoyant euro exchange rate.

Industrial activities contributed most to overall results, with profits a whopping 50 percent up to 548 million euros year-on-year - the company said a favorable product mix offset currency imbalances here. Industrial revenues also outperformed overall sales growth with a 3-percent rise. Orders were up 5 percent.

Energy sector challenges

Energy division activity was disappointing, with profits down to 405 million euros, on the back of a 2-percent sales decline. Siemens says the worst performance in Energy came from the Power Transmission division, which faced charges including 128 million euros for offshore wind park grid connections.

The Infrastructure and Cities division which incorporates Transport and Logistics delivered a solid performance though, including one 3-billion-euro order for trains and maintenance in Britain. Revenues were 8 percent higher.

Siemens is very active in Russia, where it generates 2 billion euros of its sales. But the company says western sanctions against Moscow will have little immediate impact, and it is too early to talk about their impact in 2015.

In a bright outlook, Siemens says fiscal full year revenues are expected to remain level year-on-year with earnings per share to grow by at least 15 percent. And order books are full, with a backlog of 101 billion euros.