"As expected, we got off to a somewhat subdued start to the new fiscal year after the brilliant final spurt in the fourth quarter of 2019. Nevertheless, we are seeing a robust order intake that is only marginally below the record quarter in the same period of the previous year," says Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, summarizing the first quarter of 2020. The resulting book-to-bill ratio, i.e. the ratio of order intake to sales, was very pleasing at 1.22.

While the order backlog reached 149 billion euros, incoming orders of 24.8 billion euros were 2% below the strong level of the previous year. The reason for this is a very sharp drop in the volume of major orders in Mobility, which outweighed the growth in the majority of industrial businesses - particularly Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE). On a comparable basis, i.e. excluding currency translation and portfolio effects, order intake fell by 4% overall and sales by 1%.

Details on how the individual businesses - Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, Gas and Power and Mobility - developed can be found in the picture gallery.

Siemens confirms its forecast for fiscal year 2020 as a whole. Global economic development is expected to remain subdued in fiscal year 2020, with risks arising in particular from geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainties. The company is therefore assuming a moderate decline in the volume of markets served by short-cycle businesses. Siemens is assuming a moderate increase in Group sales on a comparable basis.

For fiscal year 2020, the Digital Industries Division expects revenue to be comparable to the previous year's level and thus outperform the general market trend - despite the ongoing weakness in its most important short-cycle markets, particularly the automotive and machine tool industries.

Smart Infrastructure anticipates moderate revenue growth on a comparable basis for the 2020 financial year, driven by the longer-cycle solution and service business and despite the fact that the short-cycle industrial product business is exposed to the headwinds of a market slowdown.

Economic cycles have little impact on Mobility's markets. The strategic company therefore expects a mid-single-digit percentage increase in sales on a comparable basis. The train business, in which several major rail projects were launched at the end of the 2019 financial year, is likely to be the decisive factor here.