Siemens beats profit forecasts and says revenue growth will slow

Siemens beats profit forecasts and says revenue growth will slow in 2024 –

  • Siemens on Thursday reported a 10% jump in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth to a record high of 21.4 billion euros ($23.2 billion), beating forecasts but expecting a slowdown in 2024.
  • The German industrial group forecasts sales growth of 4% to 8% over the next 12 months, compared with the 11% rise in the 2023 fiscal year that ended in September, largely due to the muted outlook for its industrial automation unit.
  • At the end of the financial year, the industrial company recorded record results for the quarter and the full year.

Exterior view of the Siemens Forum, part of the Siemens headquarters, in Munich, Germany.

Getty Images

Siemens on Thursday reported a 10% jump in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth to a record high of 21.4 billion euros ($23.2 billion), beating forecasts but expecting a slowdown in 2024.

The German industrial group forecasts sales growth of 4% to 8% over the next 12 months, compared with the 11% rise in the 2023 fiscal year that ended in September, largely due to the muted outlook for its industrial automation unit.

“Digital Industries expects comparable sales development of 0% to 3% for the 2024 fiscal year. “This is based on the assumption that global demand in the automation businesses, particularly in China, will pick up again in the second half of the fiscal year following the depletion of customer inventories,” the group said in its earnings report.

However, at the end of the financial year, the industrial company recorded record results for the quarter and the full year.

Industrial profit rose 7% in the fourth quarter to a record 3.4 billion euros, above the company’s forecast of 3.34 billion euros and reaching a record 11.4 billion euros for the year.

Net profit for the quarter was €1.9 billion, taking the full-year figure to an all-time high of €8.5 billion, while full-year free cash flow also reached a record €10 billion.

Siemens proposed increasing the dividend from 4.25 euros per share last year to 4.70 euros per share.

“Fiscal 2023 was a year of several records: In our industrial business, profits and profit margins reached their highest levels ever, and we almost doubled our net profit to an all-time high,” Siemens CEO Roland Busch said in a statement.

“Our strategy is paying off and we continue to accelerate our customers’ digital and sustainable transformation.”