"Of course, the crisis also presents us with huge challenges on the sales side. And that affects the entire company. Many of our key markets and key industries have been hit hard, for example the automotive industry and mechanical engineering. But also the ability to finance large projects through to customer service and after-sales services. Differing regulations in the various countries are also playing their part," said Joe Kaeser, CEO of the Siemens Group, summarizing the current situation at the presentation of the figures for the second quarter of 2020.

"In this respect, we do not expect the global shutdown to take full effect and demand to bottom out until the third quarter. Due to the multi-causal nature of the influences, it is too early to make an assessment of how long this situation will last and when the global economy will recover. We will therefore no longer confirm our original forecast for the 2020 financial year and will refrain from issuing a new one until further notice. Ralf Thomas will go into more detail about the changes to the outlook in his presentation. However, we are certain that Siemens can emerge stronger from the crisis," Kaeser continued.

The 2nd quarter in figures

In figures, the current situation at Siemens is as follows: At 14.225 billion euros, sales are at the previous year's level (14.245 billion euros). A decline at Digital Industries from €4.056 billion to €3.684 billion w as essentially limited to the short-cycle businesses and w as offset by the increases at Siemens Healthineers and Mobility. However, order intake fell from €16.462 billion to €15.150 billion. Siemens cites the sharp decline in major orders at Mobility as the reason for this. These were only partially offset by significant growth at Siemens Healthineers. The order backlog of €69 billion reflects the classification of Gas and Power and SGRE as discontinued operations; the order backlog of these two businesses totaled €81 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2020.

The free cash flow of the industrial businesses fell from EUR 1.513 billion in Q2/2019 to EUR 1.101 billion. This was mainly due to lower project payments from customers in Mobility

The segments at a glance

Digital Industries recorded an increase in incoming orders from 4.077 to 4.171 billion euros. Major orders were recorded in both the factory automation and software business. In geographical terms, order growth was attributable to the regions Europe, CIS, Africa, Near and Middle East (Europe/GANO) and Asia, Australia, with double-digit percentage growth in China, among others. The decline in revenue extends across all businesses and is partly attributable to the adverse effects of Covid-19, in particular the drop in customer demand. The decline is most pronounced in the short-cycle businesses.

At EUR 3.796 billion,Smart Infrastructure 's order intake was 2% below the same quarter of the previous year. The coronavirus had a particularly negative impact in Asia and Australia. At EUR 3.517 billion, sales revenue remained at the previous year's level (Q2/2019: EUR 3.507 billion). Declines were also recorded here in Asia and Australia.

Mobility recorded a huge decline in incoming orders: EUR 2.384 billion compared to EUR 3.524 billion in a strong Q2/2019. The reason for the lower order intake is the decline in major orders. Q2 2020 included major orders for the Mireo platform for regional trains in Germany, including a first order for battery-electric trains, including long-term services.

The growth in Healthineers ' order intake from EUR 3.611 billion to EUR 3.816 billion is primarily attributable to the major Atellica Solution order from the USA. The Imaging and Advanced Therapies divisions recorded significant growth in sales, while a slight decline in the Diagnostics business had the opposite effect. Benefiting from currency translation effects, Healthineers recorded high sales growth in the USA. A slight increase was also reported in China.