In his last hours as Siemens CEO, Joe Kaeser's emotion is palpable. Before he begins his speech at the Annual General Meeting, the manager has to clear his throat several times. But then, in his usual manner, he takes stock of the past year and his entire time in office - including a social assessment.

The day has started well for Siemens, Kaeser and his successor Roland Busch. In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the company posted a leap in profits in the first quarter of the past financial year and is now raising its forecast. Siemens earned €1.5 billion from October to December - an increase of 38%. For the full fiscal year, the target is 5 to 5.5 billion euros. Sales and incoming orders also increased.

Kaeser emphasizes that all of this was achieved in comparison to the same quarter of the previous year, which was not yet affected by the pandemic. Anyone growing so strongly in this situation "must have done something right", he said. The "enormous efforts of the past" had paid off.

Roland Busch in charge

However, Roland Busch, who will follow in Kaeser's footsteps as CEO at the end of the Annual General Meeting, was already responsible for the first quarter and spoke of an "extraordinarily good start". This applies not only to the company but also to him.

Every opportunity that presented itself had been seized, said Busch. In China and Germany, business had been better than expected. Some sectors, such as the automotive and mechanical engineering industries, had recovered much faster. "You can see the boom in these high-margin businesses in our earnings today."

Lower expenses also helped the result. Travel costs fell by almost two thirds due to the pandemic. In the same quarter of the previous year, they had still amounted to around 270 million euros. However, it will not be possible to maintain the low level, said Busch.

Automation one of the "growth markets of the decade"

In view of the solid state in which Siemens is replacing its CEO, the Annual Shareholders' Meeting turned into a mutual song of praise - even if the applause at the virtual event was rather thin due to the lack of an audience in the hall. Supervisory Board Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe praised Kaeser as one of the "greatest leaders" in the history of Siemens, who has "shaped the company like few others". Kaeser declared his successor Busch to be "the right person, at the right time, in the right place".

Kaeser also praised himself. He referred to the stabilization and restructuring of the company under his aegis and to the current surge in Siemens shares and the two spin-off companies Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers. Overall, the share price had also risen sharply during his time in office.

Tailwind for Busch

Busch starts his term in office with a tailwind. But he has to fill what shareholder representative Daniela Bergdolt from the Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz recently described as a "giant milepost". Busch himself sees the company facing a "decade of opportunities" because the industry has to reinvent itself through digitalization. Global investments in automation, intelligent buildings, mobility and charging infrastructure are likely to increase significantly in the coming years. According to Busch, the Siemens markets are "the growth markets of the decade". His task now is to exploit this.

And Kaeser? He will remain connected to the Siemens cosmos as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy. And apart from that, he emphasized on Wednesday morning, he is doing well and is looking forward to his last day as Siemens CEO - and also to the day after.