German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited Siemens' training center in Berlin. In a tour of the facility with Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher, she talked to trainees and participants in work-study programs about their daily work and routines. Afterwards, Merkel and Löscher discussed the challenges of preparing young people for their future careers with a trainee, a vocational school teacher and the representative of a company in Berlin that provides vocational training. Against the backdrop of high youth unemployment particularly in southern European countries, the advantages of Germany's work-study system and its possible use as a model in other countries were also discussed. "Knowledge is the backbone of our competitiveness," said Löscher. "That's why the training of young people is a joint leadership responsibility – for us as a company, for governments and for educational institutions."
Siemens continued broad-based revenue growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Revenue in the second quarter rose nine percent year-over-year, supported by a strong order backlog. New orders were down 13 percent. Income was considerably below the prior year due to burdens in the Power Transmission Division and an equity investment loss at NSN. In addition, there had been an extraordinary gain of €1.5 billion on the sale of Siemens' stake in Areva NP in the second quarter of 2011. "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.
"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 are 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. We are addressing the problems systematically."
We released our results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2012 on April 25, 2012. The conference call was broadcast live on the internet.
Today, the Hellenic Parliament ratified the settlement agreement between Siemens and the Greek State. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in Siemens' long history in Greece. The Greek Government's commitment to foster growth was one of the pillars on which this agreement was based. This agreement will allow Siemens to continue to be a real supporter. To this end, Siemens will explore actual and substantial areas of investment in Greece, with special emphasis to sectors which increase employment and support the economy.
With the conclusion of the acceptance period of the voluntary public takeover offer, Siemens has secured 80.69 percent of IBS shares, thereby exceeding the minimum takeover threshold of 75 percent. All additional conditions for completion of the takeover offer, including antitrust approvals, have also been fulfilled. Therefore, the takeover of IBS AG can be implemented as planned.
Siemens is again the uncontested leader in patent applications in Europe. According to the 2011 Patent Applicant Ranking of the European Patent Office (EPO), the company submitted 2,235 patent applications (excluding Osram: 1,994) to the EPO in calendar year 2011 to capture first place in the European patent statistics. Siemens also increased its lead over its next-ranked rivals. "I'm very proud of this achievement – it's a testimony to our employees' power of innovation. Innovations strengthen our position in international competition and create jobs," said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher. Löscher confirmed that Siemens will continue to invest in research and development at the current high level. In fiscal 2011, the company channeled nearly €4 billion into research and development, of which over €1 billion went to develop green technologies.
Siemens has successfully finalized the placement of the bond with warrant units which was started this morning. With an aggregate volume of $3 billion, this is the biggest issuance by a European corporate in this market segment for the past ten years. The bonds with the term of 5.5 years have a volume of $1.5 billion and a coupon of 1.05% per annum; the bonds with the term of 7.5 years have the same volume of $1.5 billion and a coupon of 1.65% per annum. The exercise price was fixed at 137.5% of the reference price. On that basis, the exercise price amounts to €104.0018 per share. At issuance, one warrant will entitle its holder to receive 1806.1496 Siemens shares against payment of about €188,000. Thus the warrants result in option rights relating to a total of about 21.7 million Siemens shares. "With this successfully placed transaction we have fully achieved our goal of gaining optimized financing, tapping into attractive market demand", Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser stated.
Today Siemens will issue bond with warrant units with an intended volume of US Dollar 3 billion. The final amount will be adjusted in accordance with market environment and demand. This specific debt instrument puts Siemens in a position to benefit from attractive market opportunities for US Dollar funding. The planned bond issue is to be seen in the context of a refinancing of EUR 2.2 billion in bonds that were redeemed in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and of US Dollar 1.3 billion in bonds that will mature in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. "With the issuance of these bonds we choose a liquidity-focused and cost-efficient approach to keep Siemens' financial flexibility," Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser stated.
Siemens plans a focused expansion of its industry software portfolio and intends to make a voluntary public takeover offer to the shareholders of IBS Aktiengesellschaft excellence, collaboration, manufacturing (WKN 622840) ("IBS AG") to acquire all shares in IBS AG. IBS shareholders are to receive EUR 6.10 per share in cash. This corresponds to a premium of approx. 33 percent compared to today's closing share price for IBS AG (XETRA). Through the acquisition of IBS AG, a supplier of software solutions for industrial quality and production management, Siemens complements its offering of industrial automation solutions. The management board of IBS AG welcomes the offer from Siemens in principle.