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Siemens 2Q profit doubles
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April 27, 2000: 9:53 a.m. ET
Co. plans £1B share buyback; will float Unisphere in 2000
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LONDON (CNNfn) - German electronics and engineering giant Siemens announced Thursday better-than-expected second-quarter profit as sales of mobile phones soared, and unveiled plans to float its U.S.-based telecom switching unit Unisphere later this year.
Profit before one-time items doubled to  780 million ($719 million) for the three months ended March 31. Including one-time gains of 3.6 billion for the initial public offering of chipmaker Infineon, net income was 4.6 billion. Munich-based Siemens also said it plans to buy back stock worth £1 billion ($920 million). The company provided no further information on Unisphere.
 Siemens has radically restructured its diverse portfolio of activities in recent years. The company last month sold off 29 percent of its computer chip unit Infineon, the second successful initial public offering for one of its subsidiaries. Last year it listed shares in electronics components maker Epcos. Infineon announced Thursday profit jumped to 146 million in the second-quarter from 23 million in the year-earlier period.
Siemens also said it was adding mobile phones to its largest business segment, to be called Information and Mobile Communications. The unit made 299 million in the quarter, up from 52 million a year earlier, profiting from the boom in mobile phones.
Earlier this month, Siemens and Robert Bosch agreed to buy Atecs, a maker of automotive and industrial components, from Mannesmann for 9.6 billion.
Von Peirer expects the results for fiscal 2000 to exceed expectations, matching the 34 percent profit gain in 1999. He said earnings growth is expected to "slacken" towards the end of the year because of volatile semiconductor and mobile phone businesses.
 Siemens said revenue in the three months ended Mar. 31 rose 15 percent, without reporting a value in euros. For the fiscal year's first half, the company generated sales of 35.5 billion, up 13 percent from a year earlier, as orders climbed 17 percent to 39 billion. Shares in Siemens slumped £7.50 in Frankfurt by midday Thursday to 150. 
--from staff and wire reports
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Siemens
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