Siemens, one of the largest manufacturing companies in Europe, saw its sales remain at €19 billion (about $21 billion) in the last quarter, and profits fall by 38% to €2.2 billion.
Announcing the figures on Thursday, the company said the fall in profits was largely due to the fact that it had recorded a billion-euro profit in the same quarter of the previous year as a result of the rising value of its stake in Siemens Energy.
The Digital Industries (DI) division, which has performed particularly well in recent years but is now recording significant declines in sales and earnings, is currently holding back the company.
There is "currently subdued demand" in the automation business, said Siemens boss Roland Busch. In China in particular, customers still have high stocks of products. However, Siemens' software business continues to do well.
The other two divisions of the core business, Smart Infrastructure and Mobility, also delivered relatively good figures. leading the company to praise a "solid performance".
Siemens confirmed its previous forecast for the current fiscal year for the whole group. However, the company expects the weak demand in Digital Industries to last a little longer and lowered its expectations for this sector.
In contrast, Siemens has made decisive progress with the long-planned sale of its subsidiary Innomotics. The firm has now confirmed that it is selling the electric motors and large drives business, with around 15,000 employees, to the US investment company KPS Capital Partners for €3.5 billion. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the first half of the coming financial year.
