Siemens' Q2 profit nearly doubles on nuclear sale

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German industrial machinery company Siemens AG saw its profits nearly double in the three months to end-March as it booked a big one-off gain following the sale of its stake in a nuclear venture.

The company on Wednesday reported further increases in sales and orders for its big-ticket goods in Asia, particularly in China and India, allowing it to raise its outlook for the year.

Siemens said net income in its fiscal second-quarter rose 89 percent to 2.83 billion ($4.18 billion) from 1.50 billion a year ago while revenues increased 7 percent to 17.7 billion.

The profit rise was largely due to a 1.52 billion gain for the sale of its stake in nuclear venture Areva NP. Siemens sold its 34 percent stake in joint venture Areva NP, which makes and services nuclear reactors, to its partner, France's Areva.

As with Germany's car makers, Siemens reported strong growth in emerging economies such as China and India, where revenue was up 20 percent, a continuing recovery in the United States, and Europe lagging behind, even though the business there was helped by orders for three large offshore wind farms in Germany.

Munich-based Siemens makes heavy-duty machinery such as wind turbines, high-speed trains and medical scanners.

The strong result Wednesday enabled the company to raise its outlook for the year.

The company's performance of 3.20 per share beat consensus analyst estimates of 2.01 per share, and it raised its outlook for this year to 7.5 billion in earnings from continuing operations.

Previously it forecast an increase of 25 percent to 35 percent from last year's figure of 4.262 billion, or up to 5.8 billion.