"We have understood that conglomerates of the old-fashioned kind have no future," Joe Kaeser told a news conference after the company reported a 10 percent drop in fourth-quarter industrial profit.

Siemens is preparing to list its 40 billion-euro (35.34 billion pounds) healthcare business, has put its wind-power business into a joint venture and is preparing to do the same with its rail business.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)