By John Revill
ZURICH (Reuters) -Siemens still expects to increase its full-year sales by between 3 and 7% “despite increased uncertainty”, the German engineering group said on Thursday, as it reported better-than-expected profit during its second quarter.
The company, whose products include factory software, controllers and trains, said its industrial profit rose 29% to 3.24 billion euros ($3.63 billion) in the three months to the end of March.
The figure, helped by a 315-million-euro gain from the sale of its wiring business to ABB, beat analysts’ consensus forecast of 2.75 billion euros.
Sales rose 7% to 19.76 billion euros, ahead of forecasts for 19.22 billion euros, while orders increased 10%.
As a result, Siemens confirmed its outlook for its full-year sales to increase by 3-7% despite seeing “increased uncertainty in the economic environment”.
“Our customers continue to rely on our technology, and our global footprint demonstrates our resilience,” said Chief Executive Roland Busch in a statement.
In March, Chief Financial Officer Ralf Thomas noted hesitancy among customers due to uncertainties about tariffs, with many delaying investment decisions.
But Siemens, whose results give an indication of the broader industrial economy, said it was seeing an improving situation in most of its businesses.
Although Digital Industries, the company’s flagship automation unit, struggled, with a 5% drop in revenue, Siemens said it saw signs of destocking by customers coming to an end.
The weakness was compensated by Smart Infrastructure, which combines hardware and software to manage electricity, heating, cooling, lighting, and data in buildings. It increased sales by 12% while profit jumped 61% helped by the sale of its wire accessories business.
The division is benefiting from sustained demand for electrification, power distribution and the construction of data centres for artificial intelligence.
Mobility also saw revenue and profit rise, buoyed by global investments in rail and transport infrastructure such as electric trains in the United States.
($1 = 0.8931 euros)
(Reporting by John Revill, editing by Rachel More and Mark Potter)
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