Siemens AG: Strong finish for fiscal 2015
- Guidance for fiscal 2015
met
- Ambitious outlook for
2016
- Substantial growth in
orders expected despite weakening global economy
- Moderate revenue increase
also anticipated
- Managing and Supervisory
Boards propose dividend increase to €3.50
- New share buyback program
of up to €3 billion over up to 36 months
- €200 million additional
in employee profit sharing
Siemens has met its guidance
for fiscal 2015 as planned and announced an ambitious outlook for fiscal
2016. In fiscal 2015, orders climbed six percent to €82.3 billion. Revenue
was also up six percent to €75.6 billion. Excluding currency translation
and portfolio effects, orders and revenue were both down one percent, roughly
at the prior-year level. The book-to-bill ratio was 1.09. The profit margin
for the Industrial Business was 10.1 percent. Net income totaled €7.4
billion (fiscal 2014: €5.5 billion). At €8.84, basic earnings per share
were 39 percent above the prior-year figure. For fiscal 2015, Siemens had
anticipated revenue on an organic basis at the prior-year level and a book-to-bill
ratio of over one. An increase in basic earnings per share of at least
15 percent above the prior-year value of €6.37 had been forecast. The
profit margin for the Industrial Business had been expected to be 10 percent
to 11 percent.
"We delivered what we
promised, and are well positioned to deliver on our plans for the year
ahead," said Joe Kaeser, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Siemens AG. For fiscal 2015, Siemens' Managing Board and Supervisory Board
will propose that shareholders at the company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting
in January 2016 approve a dividend of €3.50 (fiscal 2014: €3.30). Siemens
also intends to repurchase shares with a volume of up to €3 billion within
the next 36 months. This repurchase will be accomplished under the authorizations
granted by the Annual Shareholders' Meeting on January 27, 2015. The repurchased
shares will only be retired, issued to employees, the board members of
affiliated companies or members of the Managing Board, or used to service
convertible bonds or warrant bonds. "With the new planned share buyback
program, we want to ensure that our shareholders continuously participate
in our company's success," said Siemens CFO Ralf P. Thomas.
Employees will receive profit-sharing
distributions totaling nearly €2.2 billion in cash and shares, plus €200
million that the company has approved for the Siemens Profit Sharing Pool.
This new stock-based employee profit-sharing concept, which Siemens launched
a year ago, enables employees to participate directly in the company's
success. After particularly successful fiscal years, a part of the generated
profit that is above expectations can be paid into the Profit Sharing Pool.
If the pool reaches €400 million, all or part of the total will be distributed
to employees worldwide, preferably as Siemens shares. "With an allocation
of €200 million already in the first year, we've made a solid start,"
said Kaeser.
Siemens anticipates further
softening in the macroeconomic environment and continuing complexity in
the geopolitical environment in fiscal 2016. Nevertheless the company expects
moderate revenue growth, net of effects from currency translation. Siemens
anticipates that orders will materially exceed revenue for a book-to-bill
ratio clearly above 1. For its Industrial Business, the company expects
a profit margin of 10 percent to 11 percent. Furthermore, Siemens expects
basic EPS from net income in the range of €5.90 to €6.20 as compared
to €5.18, which it achieved in fiscal 2015 excluding €3.66 per share
in portfolio gains from the divestments of the hearing aid business and
the stake in BSH. As a result, EPS are expected to achieve double-digit
growth of at least 14 percent on a comparable basis. This outlook assumes
that momentum in the market environment for Siemens' high-margin short-cycle
businesses will pick up in the second half of fiscal 2016. Additionally
it excludes charges related to legal and regulatory matters.
