Siemens AG, the giant German computing, electronics and industrial conglomerate, has seen early benefits from its reorganization program with a tangible boost to profits at the year end. Having lowered analyst’s expectations in July with its comments that group profits would remain flat at best, the company announced on Wednesday that preliminary net profits for the year to September 30 actually rose 5% to the equivalent of $1.51bn while revenue rose 14% to $62bn. Alongside a claimed double digit growth rate for all of its businesses, there were star individual performances from its personal computers and communications divisions. Siemens Nixdorf Informationssystemes saw its sales grow 14% to $8.9bn while pre-tax profits grew 102% to $61m. Public Communications Networks doubled pre-tax earnings to $462m on sales up 23% at $8.4bn. International orders and sales for the group grew 23% and 22% respectively helping to compensate for the stagnant domestic market in Germany where the poor performing economy held back growth. German sales remained flat while order levels actually fell. International business now accounts 69% of all group revenues. The forecast for 1998 is net profit in excess of $1.7bn.
