Siemens (NYSE:SI) saw its fiscal 2012 profits plunge by more than 27%, despite a strong contribution from its healthcare segment.
The German industrial conglomerate reported profits of about $5.85 billion (€4.59 billion), or $6.43 per share (€5.04), on sales of $99.81 billion (€78.30 billion) during the 12 months ended Sept. 30. That’s a top-line gain of 6.9%, but a bottom-line plunge of 27.4%.
The numbers were much better for Siemens Healthcare, which reported profits of $2.31 billion (€1.82 billion) on sales of $17.39 billion for FY 2012. That’s a bottom-line gain of 36.1% on sales growth of 9.0%.
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"A strong fourth quarter enabled us to fulfill our expectations for fiscal 2012 and achieve one of our best years ever. Even so, we didn’t fully succeed in significantly boosting our performance vis-à-vis competitors, as we did in recent years," president & CEO Peter Löscher said in prepared remarks. "To get back to reaching our own goals, we’ve launched ‘Siemens 2014,’ a company-wide program aimed at raising our Total Sectors profit margin to at least 12 percent. We know what we have to do – and we’re doing it."
Siemens said it expects "moderate order growth and revenue approaching the level of fiscal 2012," with income from operations ranging from $5.74 billion-$6.37 billion (€4.5 billion-€5.0 billion).
SI shares closed up 0.7% today at $102.07 apiece.
