The Munich-based Siemens now expects revenue growth of at least seven percent for the current fiscal year. Outgoing Chief Financial Officer Ralf Thomas narrowed the forecast on Thursday during a conference call, citing the upper half of the previous range of six to eight percent. The reason for this increased optimism lies in the growing confidence for the company's two core divisions: Digital Industries (DI) and Smart Infrastructure (SI). SI is projected to see revenue growth of 7.5 to 9.0 percent, thanks to a strong order backlog, placing it in the upper half of the previously forecasted range. The profit margin is also expected to be in the upper half of the range, at 18.5 to 19.0 percent. For DI, Siemens now anticipates a margin "towards the upper half" of the target corridor of 15 to 19 percent.

(Reported by Alexander Hübner. Edited by Olaf Brenner. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)