German engineering giant Siemens sharply raised its 2011 business forecasts on Wednesday after unveiling a jump in fiscal second-quarter profit and a 28-per-cent surge in new orders.
The Munich-based group said it was raising its earnings from continuing operations forecast for fiscal 2011 to at least 7.5 billion euros (11.15 billion dollars). This would represent a leap in profit of about 75 per cent compared with the 4.3 billion euros it booked last year, DPA reported.
The company had previously expected fiscal 2011 earnings from continuing operations to exceed its fiscal 2010 results by at least 25 per cent to 35 per cent. Siemens' fiscal year ends in September.
Sales growth will be a "mid-single digit" percentage, Siemens said. This compares to a previous forecast of "moderate growth."
"We've achieved outstanding, broad-based orders growth," Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher said releasing the results.
The group said earnings from continuing operations in the quarter ending March more than doubled to 3.17 billion euros from 1.43 billion euros in the same period in 2010. Group revenue climbed 7 per cent to 17.72 billion euros from last year's 16.52 billion euros.
The company's order books grew by 28 per cent year on year to 20.7 billion euros during the quarter, the company said.
At the same time, quarterly net profit came in at 2.84 billion euros, up from the 1.5 billion euros it reported last year.
Siemen's quarterly profit was also boosted by the sale of a 34-per-cent stake in a in nuclear-power venture Areva NP to France's Areva SA, which generated a gain of 1.5 billion euros.
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