"As expected, the second quarter was not easy. While we achieved clear growth in revenue, orders came in below the prior year due to lower volume from large orders. For fiscal 2012, we're on course to achieve our goals for revenue and orders. Profit for the quarter was below our expectation due to charges at power transmission projects in Germany," said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher.

Financial highlights
• Revenue for the second quarter rose 9% year-over-year, to €19.297 billion, including increases in all Sectors and reporting regions as well as 11% growth in emerging markets.

• Orders came in at €17.880 billion, 13% below the prior-year period which included a significantly higher volume from large orders, particularly in emerging markets. The book-to-bill ratio for the quarter was 0.93, and the order backlog was €100 billion.

• Total Sectors profit was €1.929 billion, a strong increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2012 but well below the prior-year period which benefited from a €1.520 billion gain from the divestment of Siemens' stake in Areva NP (Areva). Total Sectors profit in the current period included charges of €278 million in the power transmission business.

• Income from continuing operations was €1.053 billion, held back by an equity investment loss of €640 million resulting from restructuring at Nokia Siemens Networks B.V. (NSN). In contrast, the prior-year period benefited from the Areva gain mentioned above.

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• Free cash flow from continuing operations was up year-over-year, at €446 million, on higher cash flows in the Sectors.

Outlook
For fiscal 2012 Siemens confirms its expectations of moderate organic revenue growth compared to fiscal 2011, and orders again exceeding revenues for a book-to-bill above 1. The company continues to anticipate strong earnings performances in most of its businesses, including its industrial short-cycle businesses.

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Challenges, mostly in Siemens' power transmission business, impact the level of income from continuing operations that the company originally expected to achieve in fiscal 2012, €6.0 billion, by an estimated €0.6 to €0.8 billion.

New CEO of the Siemens Power Transmission Division
Siemens has also announced a new boss for its Power Transmission division. Effective May 1, 2012, Karlheinz Springer (53) will become CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy. He was head of the Instrumentation & Electrical business unit since 2005 before he took over the leadership of the Power Transmission Solutions business unit at the beginning of March 2012.

Udo Niehage, the former CEO of the Power Transmission Division will be heading the Siemens Berlin Liaison Office.

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