Tuesday January 27, 08:32 AM
Siemens keeps 'ambitious' profit target despite slowdown
BERLIN (AFP) - German industrial giant Siemens (Xetra: SIE.DE - news) said Tuesday it will stick with its operating profit forecast of 8.0-8.5 billion euros (10.6-11.2 billion dollars) despite the global slowdown slashing earnings.
The target for the year to September 2009 has "become more ambitious... and we will have to look at it carefully each quarter," Siemens said as it reported an 81 percent plunge in its first quarter net profit to 1.23 billion euros.
The Munich-based firm, which makes everything from trains to nuclear power stations, said its annual forecast could be met only if there were no order cancellations or delays, and if prices held up.
Siemens head Peter Loscher warned shareholders that the "most difficult quarters are still to come."
For the three months to December, its first quarter, the company said the downturn was skewed because the year-earlier period included proceeds from the sale of its auto parts unit VDO.
Sales in the quarter rose 7.0 percent to 19.63 billion euros but orders were down 8.0 percent at 22.2 billion euros.
Ingo-Martin Schachel, analyst with Commerzbank (Xetra: CBK.DE - news) , said the quarterly results were "very, very good" in the circumstances, adding that the full-year forecast was not very useful given the conditions now attached to it.
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