Despite a huge leap in full-year net income, German
electronics and engineering group Siemens reported a drop in
fourth-quarter earnings due to charges from its transportation and
mobile communications divisions.
Net income in the group's fourth quarter dropped to €654m
(£458m) from €724m in the same period the year before, the
Munich-based manufacturer said.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 5% to €20.8bn from €19.8bn the year
before.
In the past business year, Siemens chief executive officer
Heinrich von Pierer, who is moving over to the supervisory board in
January, had to deal with design faults in a line of trains and
software bugs in a new range of mobile phones that delayed
deliveries to retailers. Von Pierer will hand over to Klaus
Kleinfeld after being at the helm of Siemens for 12 years.
For 2004, Siemens reported a net income rise 39% to €3.41bn from
€2.45bn.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service