Siemens sticks to forecasts after solid first quarter

German engineering giant Siemens said today it was sticking to its full-year forecast after a "solid" first quarter.

 

Siemens, which runs its business year from October to September, said it "expects our markets to remain challenging in fiscal 2014."

 

In some of its short-cycle businesses, the group was "not anticipating a recovery until late in the fiscal year," it said.

 

"We expect orders to exceed revenue. Assuming that revenue on an organic basis remains level year-over-year, we expect basic earnings per share for fiscal 2014 to grow by at least 15%," it said.

 

In the 12 months to September 2013, Siemens achieved earnings per share of $ 6.94.

 

In the first quarter of the current business year, from October to December, "we delivered a sound quarter to start our fiscal year," said chief executive Joe Kaeser.

 

"As expected, market conditions were not in our favour. Strong currency effects held back volume and income development," Kaeser said.

 

Three-month orders rose by 9.0% to 20.836 billion euros, while revenue fell by 3.0% to 17.325 billion euros.

 

Net profit and earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter rose by 20% to 1.457 billion euros and 1.70 euros, respectively in the October-December period.