By John Revill
ZURICH, May 13 (Reuters) - Siemens reported weaker-than-expected second quarter earnings on Wednesday, although future orders increased despite the German engineering group highlighting a "very demanding" geopolitical environment.
The trains to industrial software maker said its sales in the three months to the end of March were flat at 19.76 billion euros, missing forecasts for 20.14 billion euros ($23.63 billion)in a company-gathered consensus of analysts.
Industrial profit fell 8%
to 2.97 billion euros, missing forecasts for 3.046 billion euros, after the company booked a 300 million euro gain from selling its wiring business last year, which caused also a decline in profit margins.
Net profit fell to 2.24 billion euros, beating forecasts for 2.13 billion euros, while orders rose by 11%.
The results of Siemens, a key supplier to industry and infrastructure, are seen as giving an insight into the health of the broader global economy.
"We delivered a successful second quarter despite the geopolitical environment, which remains very demanding," said Chief Executive Roland Busch.
During the quarter the company's orders increased ahead of expectations, rising by 11%, due to strong increases at its three main businesses of factory automation, building infrastructure and mobility.
The company said it was seeing an improving environment in the electronics and semiconductors sectors, along with demand from industrial building users, data centres and utilities.
Siemens said it still expects comparable revenue growth in the range of 6% to 8% and to take in more orders than it delivers, with a book-to-bill ratio above 1 for its 2026 fiscal year, which runs to the end of September.
($1 = 0.8523 euros)
(Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Linda Pasquini)
