Siemens has tripled its profit compared to the third quarter of 2020: profit after tax was €535 million in the same quarter of the previous year and €1.5 billion in Q3/2021.

The figures at a glance: Order intake rose from 13.9 billion euros in Q3/2020 to 20.5 billion euros in Q3/2021, while sales revenue increased by just under 3 billion euros to 16.1 billion euros (+21%; Q3/2020: 13.0 billion euros). Growth extends across all business divisions. Free cash flow amounted to EUR 2.3 billion, down slightly on the same period of the previous year (Q3/2020: EUR 2.5 billion). The book-to-bill ratio reached a value of 1.27.

These figures mean that the Group is once again raising its outlook for 2021 - to between EUR 6.1 billion and EUR 6.5 billion, including the expected effects in connection with the acquisition of Varian Medical Systems. This corresponds to expected growth of 11 to 12%.

Despite the positive development, Siemens is struggling with rising raw material prices. According to the company, however, it is mostly able to pass these on to customers. Nevertheless, the procurement situation poses challenges for the company.

The two listed subsidiaries Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Energy had very contrasting effects in the third quarter: While the medical subsidiary benefited from the sale of Corona rapid tests and raised its forecast in the past quarter, among other things, Energy sank into the red due to problems in the wind power division. Although this no longer has a full impact on Siemens due to the spin-off and IPO, it still had a negative impact on earnings.

The segments at a glance - Digital Industries

Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, Digital Industries ' order intake increased by 36% to EUR 4.7 billion on a like-for-like basis, while sales rose by 17% to EUR 4.2 billion. The reasons for this are the excellent automation business and the continued recovery in the key customer sectors of mechanical engineering and automotive. The considerable growth in PLM software and the software business as a whole should be emphasized. Nevertheless, incoming orders for electronic design automation (EDA) software did not reach the high level of the prior-year quarter, which included a number of major orders. In geographical terms, Digital Industries recorded growth in all regions, but the Group reported the highest increases in China and Europe.

For Digital Industries, the Group expects a year-on-year increase in revenue of 10 to 12% (previously 9 to 11%) on a comparable basis for the 2021 financial year. The expectation for the adjusted EBITA margin remains unchanged at 20 to 21%.

Software strengthens business in all areas

At Smart Infrastructure, order intake improved by around a quarter to EUR 4.1 billion on a comparable basis. All business areas contributed to this development, with the strongest growth recorded in the product business - led by demand from industrial customers - as well as the systems and software business. At EUR 3.8 billion, sales revenue increased by 15% on a comparable basis (Q3/2020: EUR 3.4 billion). Adjusted EBITA almost doubled to EUR 456 million compared to EUR 250 million in the previous year. Growth was achieved across all businesses and regions, as well as higher capacity utilization and a structural improvement in the cost position. The adjusted EBITA margin rose significantly to 12.1% (Q3/2020: 7.4%).

The division expects to achieve like-for-like revenue growth of 8% to 9% in the 2021 financial year (previously 5% to 7%). The adjusted EBITA margin is still expected to be between 11% and 12%.

Mobility strengthens software portfolio

Mobility increased its order intake by more than EUR 2 billion to EUR 5.1 billion (Q3/2020: EUR 3.0 billion). This was largely due to the largest order in America in Mobility's history to date: it includes the delivery of trains with dual-power and hybrid drives as well as corresponding service contracts with a volume of around EUR 2.8 billion for the US rail operator Amtrak. On a comparable basis, sales revenue increased by 5% to EUR 2.3 billion. At 204 million euros, adjusted EBITA was around a third higher than in the previous year. The adjusted EBITA margin increased to 9.0% compared to 7.1% in the third quarter of 2020.

Mobility is also strengthening its software portfolio with the recent acquisition of Sqills, thereby expanding its MaaS (Mobility as a Service) offerings. Sqills' scalable, cloud-based platform enables rail and bus operators to introduce a digital booking system that includes inventory management, reservations and ticketing. With the acquisition, Mobility is expanding into a fast-growing adjacent market. The SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business model offers resilient recurring revenues with very attractive margins and a high synergy potential by leveraging Siemens' global footprint. In addition to Hacon, eos.uptrade, Bytemark and Padam Mobility, 'S3 Passenger' from Sqills will also be part of the comprehensive Siemens Mobility software portfolio, which bundles a wide range of services for the public transportation sector.

(with documents from dpa)