Siemens Had ‘Tough’ Year as Orders Fell 20 % in 4th Quarter 09

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG had a “tough” fiscal year as orders for its factory equipment and lighting products declined, forcing Europe’s biggest engineer to deepen job cuts and book charges, Chief Financial Officer Joe Kaeser said.

Order bookings in the fiscal fourth quarter that ends tomorrow will fall about 20 percent from a year earlier, and the Munich-based company is adjusting capacity to adapt, Kaeser told analysts and investors at a meeting in London today.

“The night is always darkest before dawn,” Kaeser said in a Web-cast presentation. The company held a “tight” grip on costs in 2009 and will continue to do so next year, he said.

Siemens, which makes light bulbs, medical scanners and drives that automate factory production, has cut its global workforce to 408,000 this year from more than 420,000 employees as clients in the energy, healthcare and manufacturing industries cut spending. Siemens cut 5,000 jobs alone at its Osram lighting unit, Kaeser said today, and the company will book some charges for all reductions in its latest quarter.

Next year, Siemens will benefit from a “decent” order backlog, Kaeser said. While units including Osram and industrial automation have “seen the bottom,” the divisions won’t recover anytime soon, the finance chief said. Clients such as utilities tend to delay orders to get better deals, Kaeser said.

Siemens fell as much as 2.02 euros, or 3 percent, to 63.94 euros in Frankfurt trading after Kaeser’s comments. The stock is almost unchanged in the last year, valuing Siemens at about 58.7 billion euros ($85.6 billion.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3Zg4GkiQltA

Coincedentely released after the German elections...

 

Looks like GE will get the similar result soon...

 

Siemens HQ is in Munich. "Close" to CSU

 

If you spend $20 for an LED light bulb, the electrical utilities will go out of business because of power demand reductions.

 

The problem with that company is it is a German company to begin with. I bet the Unions and the 10 layers of management are like a python around profitability.

Plus all those Kraut taxes etc..

GE has 323K employees and
SI has 408K employees