MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Subdued demand in its automation business weighed on the technology group Siemens in the second quarter. However, a better development in the other areas almost compensated for this. Siemens confirmed its forecast when presenting its figures in Munich on Thursday, but became more pessimistic for its Digital Industries division. The reduction of full inventories at customers in the automation business is likely to take longer than expected, particularly in China, it said. For the intelligent infrastructure business, Siemens raised the lower end of the expected range for sales and profitability.

Revenue fell by one percent to 19.2 billion euros in the three months to the end of March, the company announced. The result of the industrial business fell by two percent to 2.5 billion euros. Siemens was almost able to compensate for declines in automation with better development in other areas. On the bottom line, profit fell by 38 percent to around 2.2 billion euros, with Siemens benefiting from a write-up at its subsidiary Siemens Energy in the same quarter of the previous year.

For the current fiscal year 2023/24, Siemens continues to expect revenue growth on a comparable basis of four to eight percent. Excluding currency and portfolio effects. Siemens expects earnings per share before certain purchase price effects following acquisitions to be between €10.40 and €11.00. Last year, the corresponding profit rose to 9.93 euros. This excludes the investment in Siemens Energy, which is now only recognized as a financial asset and no longer in the income statement./nas/stk