Lockdowns in China’s economic metropolis also affected the quarterly result.
(Photo: Reuters)
Frankfurt The lockdown in China and lower demand for the Covid-19 rapid test slowed down the medical technology group Siemens Healthineers significantly in the third quarter of the financial year. From April to June, the turnover of the Erlangen-based company fell on a comparable basis by 5.7 percent to just under 5.2 billion euros. Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) fell by 19 percent to 765 million euros. Analysts had expected an average of 805 million euros here.
Including currency effects, the Dax group was able to increase its sales by 3.7 percent. Healthineers CEO Bernd Montag confirmed the annual targets for the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The company is targeting an increase in sales of between 5.5 and 7.5 percent and adjusted basic earnings per share of between EUR 2.25 and EUR 2.35.
In the same period of the previous year, the Siemens subsidiary recorded a particularly strong quarter with an increase in sales of almost 39 percent. At that time, the demand for corona tests drove the numbers: From April to June 2021, around 600 million euros were spent with rapid antigen tests. In this quarter it was around half, as Healthineers boss Bernd Montag explained in the conference call.
Montag rates the third quarter as strong despite the decline in earnings. Disruptions in the supply chains and lockdowns caused by the pandemic have led to sales being postponed to the following quarters, and cost increases are having a negative impact on profits, Montag said.
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Excluding the contribution from rapid antigen testing, Siemens Healthineers increased revenue by 0.9% on a like-for-like basis, driven by non-diagnostics businesses. However, sales growth in all segments was impacted by the lockdowns in China.
At the end of July, competitor Philips also reported clearly negative effects of the China lockdowns and disruptions in the supply chain. The Dutch group had even withdrawn its annual forecast. From April to June, Philips sales fell by seven percent to 4.17 billion euros, the operating result (EBITA) collapsed to 216 million euros, after 532 million in the same period last year.
More: Divided Dax world: corporate profit forecasts are changing at record speed