MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Siemens, one of the largest manufacturing companies in
Europe, saw its sales remain at ?19 billion (about $21 billion) in
the last quarter, and profits fall by 38% to ?2.2 billion.

Announcing the figures on Thursday, the company said the fall in
profits was largely due to the fact that it had recorded a
billion-euro profit in the same quarter of the previous year as a
result of the rising value of its stake in Siemens Energy.

The Digital Industries (DI) division, which has performed
particularly well in recent years but is now recording significant
declines in sales and earnings, is currently holding back the
company.

There is 'currently subdued demand' in the automation business, said
Siemens boss Roland Busch. In China in particular, customers still
have high stocks of products. However, Siemens' software business
continues to do well.

The other two divisions of the core business, Smart Infrastructure
and Mobility, also delivered relatively good figures. leading the
company to praise a 'solid performance'. 

Siemens confirmed its previous forecast for the current fiscal year
for the whole group. However, the company expects the weak demand in
Digital Industries to last a little longer and lowered its
expectations for this sector.

In contrast, Siemens has made decisive progress with the long-planned
sale of its subsidiary Innomotics. The firm has now confirmed that it
is selling the electric motors and large drives business, with around
15,000 employees, to the US investment company KPS Capital Partners
for ?3.5 billion. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the
first half of the coming financial year.


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