Siemens has posted revenue of €14.2 billion ($15.4 billion) for the second quarter of fiscal 2020, nearly level with the same quarter a year ago, as increases at Siemens Healthineers and Mobility offset a decline at Digital Industries.

Orders declined 8 per cent, to €15.1 billion, on sharply lower volume from large orders at Mobility, the German industrial giant said on its website.

Net income, including a loss of €0.3 billion from discontinued operations, was €0.7 billion compared to €1.9 billion in Q2 FY 2019, which benefited from income of €0.2 billion from discontinued operations as well as a lower tax rate, it added.

At the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2020, Gas and Power and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) were classified as held for disposal and discontinued operations. Prior-period amounts are presented on a comparable basis.

“We delivered a robust quarter given the serious circumstances. I am particularly impressed with my team that we are able to keep the original timeline for the spin-off of our energy business,” said Joe Kaeser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG.

“While we expect to reach the bottom in the third quarter of fiscal 2020, we continue to keep the health and safety of our partners and employees as our first priority, while maintaining business continuity as much as responsibly possible.”

Siemens performed solidly in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 even as the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact our operations and our financial results.

“We expect even stronger impacts from the pandemic on business development in our fiscal third quarter. Beyond the third quarter of fiscal 2020, macroeconomic developments and their influence on Siemens currently cannot be reliably assessed. Therefore, we can no longer confirm our original guidance for fiscal 2020,” the company statement said.

“We now expect a moderate decline in comparable revenue in fiscal year 2020, net of currency translation and portfolio effects, with the book-to-bill ratio remaining above 1. The decline in demand most strongly affects our Operating Companies Digital Industries and Smart Infrastructure.

“We adhere to our plan to complete the spin-off and public listing of Siemens Energy before the end of fiscal 2020. We expect to record a spin-off gain within discontinued operations, the amount of which cannot yet be reliably forecast. We continue to expect material impacts on Net income from spin-off costs and tax expenses related to the carve-out and sub-group creation of Siemens Energy,” it added. – TradeArabia News Service