Germany's Siemens said today that most of its businesses were on track for 2003 targets but warned about slow spending in major markets after posting a fall in second-quarter profit and sales.
The Munich-based industrial giant posted second-quarter net profit of €568 million, down from €1.28 billion a year earlier, when it booked a gain of €604 million from selling shares in its chips unit Infineon.
Group sales fell 14 per cent to €18.23 billion, hit by the weaker dollar and declining sales of gas turbine generators in the key US market.
"The investment climate in key industries in important regional markets continues to be weak. We cannot see signs of a comprehensive improvement at the moment," Chief Executive Mr Heinrich von Pierer told a news conference.
Mr Von Pierer also confirmed the group had reached an advanced stage in talks to buy Alstom's industrial turbines unit, as reported by Reuters earlier this month.
Siemens shares were little changed after the results, trading 0.7 per cent higher by 9.14, compared with a 0.5 per cent gain on the pan-European DJ Stoxx tech index as the market gave a guarded welcome to the results.