In the first quarter of fiscal 2011, Siemens maintained the positive growth trend of the previous quarters, with a strong 19 percent increase in new orders year-over-year. Revenue also rose sharply by 12 percent. Income from continuing operations reached a record level, increasing 17 percent on strong development in the company’s short-cycle industry activities and power plant business. “Capital-efficient growth is our aspiration. We have lived up to it. Orders and revenue grew in all regions, particularly in emerging markets. From this our business in Germany benefits as well. We delivered excellent bottom-line performance and are fully on track to reach the targets we set for fiscal 2011,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher. The company confirmed its targets for the current fiscal year 2011 (ends September 30).
The Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of Siemens AG has approved the current compensation system for the Managing Board as well as a new compensation system for the Supervisory Board. The shareholders have also ratified the acts of the Managing and Supervisory Boards for fiscal 2010. As recommended by the Managing and Supervisory Boards, the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting has approved a dividend of €2.70 per share. The proposals regarding these agenda items were approved by large majorities.
Despite of wintery road conditions, this year’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of Siemens AG was again well attended. Roughly 8,000 shareholders attended the event in the Munich Olympiahalle on Tuesday, compared with some 8,200 last year. A total of about 44 percent of Siemens AG’s capital stock was represented at this year’s meeting.
Major winter sports events are lined up worldwide. As growing numbers of cities and regions get in shape for world-class winter events, experts estimate that over €15 billion will be invested in new and existing infrastructure in winter sports areas by 2020. Organizers are increasingly considering environmental aspects in their planning. “Our solutions make us the ideal partner for winter sports areas. We support them with the management of major projects, including providing our expertise for sustainable urban development as well as our green technologies for the ski slopes,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher.
Siemens is off to a good start in the new fiscal year 2011. The company expects a strong increase in new orders in the first quarter of the year, compared to the comparable period in fiscal 2010. Revenue will also probably increase substantially year-over-year. Income from continuing operations in the first quarter is expected to exceed the prior-year level. “We’re off to a good start and are fully on track to reach our targets,” stated Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser at an investor conference in New York on Monday.
For the 15th time, Siemens – together with Friedrich Alexander University (FAU) in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany – is hosting a special technology conference, the Erlanger Technikgespräch, in the Siemens medicare building in Erlangen, Germany. Climate change, diminishing natural resources, increasing urbanization, rising prosperity and the related increase in energy demand require a new approach to the way energy is handled. The German government has set the course with its new energy concept. Plans call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, while increasing the amount of power generated from renewable sources by the same percentage. Today, 16 percent of Germany’s energy requirements are met by renewable energies. “We won’t reach our climate goals,” emphasized Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher, “unless we make electricity our all-encompassing energy carrier. In the future, electricity will also be used in fields where other energy carriers now dominate – in transportation, for example. We’re on the threshold of a new electric age.” And precisely here, added Löscher, is where Siemens, with its Environmental Portfolio, can make a decisive contribution – from renewable energies to electric mobility.
Atos Origin and Siemens announce their intention to form a global strategic partnership. Siemens will contribute its Siemens IT Solutions and Services for a total sum of €850 million to Atos Origin in order to create a European IT champion. Siemens will become for a period of at least five years a sustainable shareholder of Atos Origin with a 15% stake. The transaction will create a leading IT services company with pro forma 2010 revenues of approximately €8.7billion and 78,500 employees worldwide. As part of the transaction, Siemens concluded a seven-year outsourcing contract worth around €5.5 billion, under which Atos Origin will provide Managed Services and Systems Integration to Siemens. The new company will operate the largest European managed services platform, will be uniquely positioned to deliver cloud computing services, market leading System Integration solutions such as Consolidation & Harmonization, Energy, PLM and to enhance significantly its electronic payments and transaction based activities.
Siemens AG today announced the first anti-corruption projects that will receive financing from the US$100 million integrity initiative to promote clean markets. This initiative is part of the World Bank-Siemens AG comprehensive settlement that was agreed on July 2, 2009. An initial tranche of US$40 million will now be distributed to more than 30 initiatives from over 20 countries that have been selected. Around 300 nonprofit organizations from 66 countries had applied for funding during the first round.