Siemens profit falls on COVID-19 issues, taxes

FRANKFURT – Siemens AG, maker of trains, power generation equipment and other heavy industrial goods, said Thursday that net profit fell by half due to higher taxes and losses at its Siemens Gamesa renewable energy arm related to the virus outbreak.

Net profit came in at 535 million euros ($634 million) in the April-June quarter, down from 1.14 billion euros in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue fell five per cent to 13.5 billion euros, while orders, a key factor in future earnings, fell seven per cent to 14.4 billion euros. The order book was boosted by a 1.1 billion-euro order for high-speed trains in Germany; the year-earlier figure was boosted by a 1.2 billion euro order for trains in Russia.

Based in Munich, Siemens said that revenue in the rail infrastructure and services business was reduced because the company could not get access to some customer sites during the worst of the outbreak lockdowns.

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