Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens, and Lisa Davis, member of the board for Energy of Siemens, address a press conference in Berlin, Germany.

FRANKFURT: German engineering giant Siemens said it reached its full-year profit targets in the 12 months to September, thanks to a solid final quarter.

“We delivered the results we originally promised for fiscal 2014 and made substantial progress in strengthening our portfolio,” said CEO Joe Kaeser.

Siemens, which runs its business year from October to September, said its net profit rose by 25 percent to 5.507 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in the year ended September 30.

Underlying or operating profit rose by 26 percent to 7.335 billion euros.

Full-year revenues fell by 2.0 percent to 78.35 billion euros and orders were also down 2.0 percent at 71.92 billion euros.

That was due to foreign exchange developments and portfolio changes, Siemens said.

Looking ahead to the current year, Siemens said the business environment “will be complex in fiscal 2015, among other things due to geopolitical tensions.”

Revenues were projected to remain flat year-over-year.

Windfall gains from divestments will enable Siemens to increase earnings per share (EPS) from net income “by at least 15 percent from 6.37 euros in fiscal 2014, Siemens said.

Separately, Siemens said it has agreed to sell its hearing aid business to Swedish investment fund EQT and the German Struengmann family for 2.15 billion euros.

“Due to the very attractive offer made by the two investors, Siemens has decided not to further pursue preparations for the public listing it announced in May,” the company said.

“In the past years Siemens Healthcare has invested significantly in its audiology business. Both EQT with the Wallenberg family as anchor investor and the Struengmann family have outstanding reputations and extensive experience in the health care sector. Not only is the transaction excellent from a financial perspective; we’re also convinced that both investors have a clear growth strategy for further developing the hearing aid business over the long term,” said board member Hermann Requardt.

 
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