Hard hats with the letter ‘Siemens’ are hanging on a wall in Nuremberg, southern Germany in a steam turbine plant on 22 June 2017.
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German engineering group Siemens on Thursday reported better-than-expected start-up results for its first fiscal quarter, driven by strong performance of its digital sector.
The train-to-factory software maker said it would review the outlook for fiscal 2021 when it announces its full first-quarter earnings on Feb. 3.
In November, Siemens took a cautious look at overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it expects government and company investment this year to weaken the global reversal, pre- forecast median income and employment improvement in 2021.
On Thursday, it said first-quarter sales for the digital industries unit rose 5% to 3.765 billion euros ($ 4.58 billion), ahead of analyst consensus for 3.561 billion, while earnings rose before interest, tax and interest (EBITA) came in at 848 million euros.
Its smart infrastructure division also performed well, with revenue up 4% to 3.477 million euros and an EBITA turnover of 391 million, both ahead of consensus.
However, the unit lost expectations, with revenues of 2.193 billion euros and a modified EBITA of 219 million.