GERMAN industrial giant Siemens today gave a cautious sales forecast for 2024, after netting a record profit in the previous financial year driven by its digital division.

The company, whose businesses range from making trains to automating production processes, earned a net profit of €7.95 billion (RM40.3 billion) in 2022-2023.

That was nearly double the figure from the previous financial year. The company runs its fiscal year from October to September.

Sales, at €77.8 billion, increased 11% on the previous year. For 2024, however, the group expects revenue to grow in a range of between 4 and 8%.

This cautious assessment is mainly due to the “Digital Industries” division, whose work includes supplying technologies for automation.

After growing strongly in the past financial year, Siemens expects sales growth of just 0 to 3% in this unit in 2024.

The company said in a statement that it expected “destocking” in this area at the start of the financial year.

However, in the second half of the year, “global demand in the automation businesses, especially in China, will pick up again”, it said.

Analysts were positive about the results, with Deutsche Bank saying in a note that Siemens “beat on all metrics” in its fourth quarter, and the 2024 outlook “confirms the group’s resilience and strong strategic positioning”.

Its shares rose more than 6% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The Smart Infrastructure division, which deals with areas like data centres and battery makers, expects revenue growth in the coming year between 7 and 10%, down on the previous year’s figure.

The unit dealing with railways also expects sales growth to slide next year, and to come in between 8 and 11%. – AFP, November 16, 2023.