FRANKFURT.- Siemens’ new chief executive made his debut on Wednesday with disappointing results and a sale of the company’s VDO Automotive unit for less than had been rumored, sending Siemens shares down 7 percent.
Siemens posted a rise in new orders well below that reported by rivals in a booming infrastructure market and operating profit that missed market expectations by far, only partly due to negative equity related to its NSN telecoms joint venture.
The industrial group said it would sell VDO to Continental for 11.4 billion euros ($15.7 billion) and acquire U.S. diagnostics company Dade Behring for about $7 billion to bolster its medical unit.
CEO Peter Loescher said the acquisition and sale were first moves in reshaping Siemens’ sprawling portfolio.
«Siemens needs to get faster, less complex and more focused. Today’s announcements regarding Siemens VDO Automotive and Medical Solutions are important steps in that direction,» he said in a statement.
The news about the portfolio changes failed to distract investors from Siemens’ weaker-than-expected results, and Siemens shares traded down 4.8 percent at 100.95 euros by 1350 GMT, by far the biggest decliner in Germany’s DAX.
They earlier dropped as low as 98.67 euros.
Third-quarter orders rose 13 percent to 22.15 billion euros, less than the 22.44 billion-euro average forecast in a Reuters poll after rivals General Electric and Alstom had reported leaps in demand for infrastructure products.
Operating profit also came in well short of forecasts, rising 22 percent to 1.504 billion euros, compared with the poll average of 1.941 billion.
«Many investors had expected strong quarterly numbers at the start of new Siemens CEO Peter Loescher’s term in office,» said analyst Jochen Klusmann of BHF Bank. «The EBIT of 1.5 billion euros is far below market expectations of 2 billion.»
Siemens said the result was hurt by negative equity investment income of 371 million euros related to Nokia Siemens Networks, its new telecoms-equipment joint venture with mobile phone maker Nokia.
Sales rose 8 percent to 20.18 billion euros and net profit rose to 2.07 billion euros in the quarter, helped by a gain from the transfer of assets into NSN.
Fuente: Reuters
