Siemens continues its growth course

In the third quarter of the fiscal year, Siemens increased its order intake on a comparable basis, i.e. excluding currency translation and portfolio effects, by 28% to €24.7 billion (Q3 2024: €19.8 billion). Sales revenue grew by 5% to EUR 19.4 billion on a comparable basis compared to the same quarter of the previous year (Q3 2024: EUR 18.9 billion). The ratio of incoming orders to sales revenue (book-to-bill ratio) reached 1.28. The order backlog amounted to EUR 117 billion at the end of the third quarter of the financial year.

Earnings in the Industrial Business declined. The decline of 7% to 2.8 billion euros (Q3 2024: 3.0 billion euros) is due to the very sharp fall in earnings at Digital Industries, which had achieved an exceptionally high result in the software business in the same quarter of the previous year. All other industrial businesses increased earnings and profitability. The earnings margin of the Industrial Business amounted to 14.9% (Q3 2024: 16.5%).

Profit after tax rose by 5% to EUR 2.2 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 2.1 billion) and benefited, among other things, from a gain of EUR 0.2 billion from the completion of the sale of part of the airport logistics business.

Smart infrastructure and mobility

Order intake at Digital Industries declined moderately to EUR 4.4 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 4.5 billion). Nevertheless, order intake in the automation business increased compared to the low basis of comparison in the previous year due to higher demand in all three reporting regions, including strong growth in China and the USA. This increase was outweighed by a decline in the software business, where order intake was below the exceptionally high prior-year quarter, which had included a number of large orders for licensed software. On a comparable basis, sales revenue fell by 10% to EUR 4.4 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 4.9 billion).

The sharp decline in revenue in the software business was also largely due to the high level of contracts for licensed software in the third quarter of the 2024 financial year. In contrast, sales revenue in the automation business increased year-on-year for the first time since the fourth quarter of the 2023 financial year, mainly due to the contribution from China. Earnings of EUR 642 million and profitability of 14.5% fell primarily due to lower revenue in the software business and higher personnel restructuring expenses, mainly in connection with the automation business.

At EUR 5.7 billion, Smart Infrastructure's order intake on a comparable basis almost reached the strong level of the same quarter of the previous year (Q3 2024: EUR 6.0 billion), which included a number of major orders from data centers and customers in the energy sector. Sales revenue increased in all businesses and reporting regions. On a comparable basis, they rose by 9% to EUR 5.7 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 5.4 billion), led by the Electrification business, which continued to consistently process the large backlog of orders from data centers and customers in the energy sector.

Smart Infrastructure once again increased its earnings and profitability compared to the previous year due to higher revenue, increased capacity utilization and continuous productivity improvements. Earnings grew by 16% to EUR 1.1 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 923 million) and the earnings margin increased to 18.8% (Q3 2024: 17.0%).

Mobility more than tripled its order intake to EUR 7.9 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 2.4 billion) due to a very sharp increase in the volume of major orders. This included an order worth EUR 3.5 billion from an existing framework agreement for a turnkey rail system in Egypt and an order worth EUR 1.7 billion for high-speed trains and services in the USA. Mobility increased its revenue on a comparable basis by 19% to EUR 3.1 billion (Q3 2024: EUR 2.6 billion). All businesses recorded growth, with the strongest contributions to growth coming from the rail vehicle and customer service business. Earnings rose by 26% to EUR 286 million due to higher sales revenue (Q3 2024: EUR 227 million). The earnings margin rose accordingly to 9.3% (Q3 2024: 8.7%).

Outlook confirmed

"Our performance in the third quarter proves that Siemens delivers robust results despite a volatile global market. We show continued growth momentum in order intake, revenue and profit after tax. Digitalization and sustainability remain our growth drivers. With the completion of the acquisition of Dotmatics, we are opening up new markets in the life sciences and combining scientific intelligence with our industrial AI technologies," said Dr. Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens. And Siemens CFO Prof. Dr. Ralf P. Thomas is optimistic about the future: "Looking ahead, we remain convinced that we will achieve sustainable and profitable growth. We confirm our outlook for fiscal year 2025," he said.