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4 May 2017 By Olaf Storbeck

For decades, the German engineering group’s poor margins and talent for botching large-scale projects justified a persistent discount to peers. Quarterly results confirm turnaround CEO Joe Kaeser has fixed both issues. If shareholders agree, Siemens could be worth 9 pct more.

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Siemens on May 4 reported better-than-expected results for the three months to March. Orders rose 1 percent to 22.6 billion euros ($24.6 billion) compared with the same period in 2016, while revenue was up 5 percent at 20.2 billion euros.

Industrial business profit increased 18 percent year-on-year to 2.49 billion euros, giving Siemens a profit margin of 12.1 percent.

Six of the industrial group’s eight business units exceeded profit forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters. Siemens reiterated its guidance for the full year. It expects modest revenue growth and industrial profit margin of between 11 percent and 12 percent.

Siemens shares were down 1 percent to 131.05 euros by 0906 BST on May 4.

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