Siemens slipped 2.49% to Rs 1,018.15 after consolidated net profit tumbled 38.17% to Rs 175.70 crore on 21% decrease in net sales to Rs 2,756.90 crore in Q2 March 2020 over Q2 March 2019.
The decline in revenues across the businesses is primarily due to deferred offtake by customers and slow-down in short-cycle business related to COVID-19 pandemic as well as continued weaker demand in large infrastructure projects. Siemens' order backlog for Q2 March 2020 stood at Rs 12,547 crore.
Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) slumped 46.01% to Rs 237 crore in Q2 March 2020 as against Rs 439 crore in Q2 March 2019. Current tax expenses also dropped 52.03% to Rs 69.50 crore in Q2 March 2020 as compared to Rs 144.90 crore paid in Q2 March 2019. The Q2 earnings were released after market hours yesterday, 13 May 2020.
Speaking on the Q2 results, Sunil Mathur, the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Siemens, has said that, With the slowdown in the economy being accelerated and accentuated by the sudden impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Capex spending reduced dramatically in the current quarter. A gradual slowdown in the operations of our customers and supply chain was already visible from February. With the announcement of the lockdown, all our factories, project sites and offices were shut since the last week of March, resulting in a steep drop in revenue for the quarter. Currently six of our factories have reopened with limited operations and a further two are expected to be opened this week.
While we continue to optimize our operations to meet the rapid changes in the economic environment, our performance in the coming quarters will be influenced greatly by a lifting of the lockdown. We are delighted with the recent announcement of the Honorable Prime Minister of a Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package and now await further details, in particular with regard to Government spending in infrastructure and a revival of demand in the economy. In the meantime, we have seen a heightened interest from our Customers to find Digitalization solutions to enable them to reduce their Capex requirements, save cash and increase their productivity, he added.
Siemens focuses on the areas of power generation and distribution, intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems, and automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries. It is also a leading supplier of smart mobility solutions for rail and road transport and infrastructure solutions for Smart Cities.
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