German industrial giant Siemens on Thursday raised its earnings forecast for the year as profits almost tripled in the third quarter, having successfully navigated a global shortage in raw materials.
Siemens, which makes products ranging from trains to factory equipment, said in a statement that it booked a bottom-line profit of €1.5 billion between April and June, up from €535 million in the same period last year.
Increasing prices for raw materials and the shortage of key components, such as semiconductors, which are widely used in new technologies, have disrupted the operations of major companies globally. Siemens was, however, “mastering a difficult environment” in relation to supply-chain issues, chief executive Roland Busch said in a press release.
On the back of this strong performance, the company raised its projection for net profit for the fiscal year to between €6.1-6.4 billion, above the previous estimate of between €5.7-6.2bn announced in the last quarter.
“We are continuing the very positive business development of the first half of the year and are once again delivering strong results despite the continuing challenging environment,” Busch said. “Consequently, we are again raising our outlook for fiscal 2021.”
Busch, who took the reins of the company from his predecessor Joe Kaeser at the beginning of the year, oversaw the second consecutive quarter in which net profits tripled year on year.
Siemens said that after a difficult pandemic-blighted year, the company had found new growth opportunities in a number of its key markets.
After a difficult pandemic-blighted year, the company had found new growth opportunities in a number of its key markets
Revenues for the group increased to €16.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with €13 billion the previous years. The increase in revenue was seen across all of Siemens’ industrial businesses, including double-digit growth in health, digital industries and infrastructure divisions.