Siemens Sept quarter net up 31%

Siemens India today reported 30.91 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 136. 74 crore for the quarter ended September 2006, compared with Rs 104.45 crore for the corresponding period last year.

The company registered top line of Rs 1,491.97 crore for the quarter, a jump of 59 per cent over Rs 933 crore for the same period of 2005-06.

Siemens India also declared its annual results for the financial year 2006. Its bottom line posted 41 per cent growth to Rs 360 crore, over the previous year figure of Rs 254.75 crore. Its top line for FY06 zoomed 64 per cent to Rs 4,510.3 crore from Rs 2784.4 crore in FY05.

The company also reported consolidated results for all its subsidiaries. The consolidated net profit rose 26.69 per cent to Rs Rs 391.69 crore for FY06 from Rs 309.16 crore a year earlier. The consolidated sales jumped 65 per cent to Rs 6,032.26 crore in FY06 from Rs 3637.88 crore last year.

However, Siemens' power systems division reported lower margins at 6.2 per cent this year from 8 per cent last year on the back of rise in raw material costs. The power systems business is the largest contributor to the company's bottom line at 46 per cent.

Raw material costs as a percentage of sales grew from 72 per cent to 76 per cent. Analysts, however, said this was in line with the industry trend, as steel, iron and copper costs have risen substantially in the last quarter affecting margins for all end-user industries.

The price of the Siemens stock today slid 3.86 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The scrip opened at Rs 1,370.50 and closed at Rs 1,279.25.