Siemens has come through the coronavirus pandemic very well. In the first three quarters of the 2021 fiscal year (FY), the Group was already able to present very good figures three times and consequently raised its forecast for the current year three times. Siemens has now exceeded these forecasts: Order intake for the full year amounted to €71.4 billion (+21%; FY 2020: €58 billion), revenue to €62.3 billion (+11.5%; FY 2020: €55.3 billion) and profit after tax increased by 59% to €6.7 billion (FY 2020: €4.2 billion). Free cash flow reached a new record of EUR 8.2 billion; in the 2020 financial year, this figure was EUR 6.4 billion. Basic earnings per share for earnings after taxes amounted to EUR 7.68 (FY 2020: EUR 5.00). The ratio of order intake to sales, the so-called book-to-bill ratio, was 1.15.

Siemens benefited from the economic recovery and growth in key markets such as the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, the electrical industry and many infrastructure-related sectors. The Group's growth was spread across all four industrial businesses.

Strong fourth quarter

Incoming orders rose to EUR 19.1 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4/20: EUR 15.1 billion). Growth was recorded across all Industrial Businesses and reporting regions, led by Digital Industries and Mobility. Sales revenue also rose by 10% on a comparable basis to EUR 17.4 billion (Q4/20: EUR 14.8 billion). This increase was primarily due to double-digit percentage growth at Digital Industries and Siemens Healthineers. At 1.09, the book-to-bill ratio remains well above 1.

At €1.330 billion, profit after tax was significantly lower than in the same period of the previous year. This is partly due to the fact that Q4/20 included a profit from the spin-off of Siemens Energy.

Adjusted EBITA for the Industrial Businesses amounted to €2.3 billion after €2.6 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. In the previous year, Adjusted EBITA had benefited from a positive effect of EUR 0.5 billion in connection with the investment in Bentley Systems.

Growth expected for financial year 2022

Siemens also expects growth in the coming year, albeit at a slower pace. While sales rose by 13% to €62.3 billion in 2021, the increase is now only expected to be in the mid-single-digit percentage range - assuming there is further growth and the bottlenecks in the supply chains ease over the course of the 2022 financial year.

The divisions at a glance - Strong growth in factory automation

In the fourth quarter,Digital Industries was able to increase both incoming orders (+34% to EUR 5.520 billion) and sales (+17% to EUR 4.542 billion) compared to the same period of the previous year. Business in the factory automation and motion control sectors in particular grew substantially. This is due to the continued recovery in the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors, which recorded double-digit growth despite higher material prices. In addition, the automation businesses continued to successfully manage their supply chain risks, particularly those relating to electronic components. The software business was able to absorb higher expenses for cloud-based activities, including initial effects from the conversion of parts of the business to Software as a Service (SaaS).

Smart Infrastructure also made gains: The growth in incoming orders (+11% to EUR 4.188 billion) and sales revenue (+8% to EUR 4.207 billion) is primarily attributable to the product and systems business, which included larger orders from semiconductor manufacturers in the US. It was also possible to avoid major interruptions in the supply chain and thus maintain delivery capability.

Siemens Mobility has grown in all businesses. This was mainly due to major orders in the rail vehicle business, including a €0.4 billion order for regional trains in Austria and two orders worth €0.1 billion each for locomotives in Germany and Slovakia. The increase in sales is largely attributable to the rail infrastructure business, including considerable growth in mainline activities. Overall, however, growth was limited by operational restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. In October 2021, Mobility completed its acquisition of SQCAP (Sqills), Netherlands, a provider of cloud-based software for inventory management, reservation and ticket booking for public transportation companies.

At Siemens Healthineers, the portfolio effects resulting from the acquisition of Varian supported the growth in order intake by 21% and sales by 18%. The Diagnostics business was particularly profitable due to the volume of rapid coronavirus antigen tests and higher test volumes for routine examinations.