Siemens posts quarterly profit

Siemens said its three months to March net profit rose 48 percent from a year earlier to 1.5 billion euros (2.0 billion dollars).

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a profit of 1.04 billion euros for the three-month period.

The group raised its year to September 2010 operating profit target to around 7.5 billion euros from a previous forecast of 6.0-6.5 billion euros.

“We are profiting in particular from measures we initiated early on to strengthen our competitiveness,” Siemens chief executive Peter Loescher said in a statement.

“In times of crisis, we very intentionally maintained our innovation power and are asserting our strength in the market,” he added.

Sales fell four percent compared with a year earlier to 18.2 billion euros but were higher than in the three months to December.

Siemens manufactures a broad range of products from light bulbs to medical equipment, nuclear power stations, power turbines and high-speed trains.