The recession and an ongoing corporate cleanup came home to roost at Siemens AG, as the German automation and engineering giant reported a whopping €2.42 billion net loss for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008.
Sales, meanwhile, nudged up 7% to €21.65 billion compared with the year-earlier quarter.
The quarterly loss included €1 billion that Siemens set aside to help pay for eventual settlements with authorities in the United States and Germany in the company’s bribery scandal. It also included €1.1 billion in charges related to the company’s ongoing expense reduction, which includes layoffs, as well as €1.61 billion in charges for discontinued operations, including the company’s disposal of its 51% interest in SEN.
For the year, Siemens reported a commensurate 7% revenue rise, to €77.32 billion, although profit fell to €2.8 billion pre-tax from €5.1 billion a year ago.