Siemens profit up

German engineering group Siemens has reported a big jump in profits for the final three months of last year, largely as a result of cutting costs. Net income for the quarter came in at 1.53 bn euros ($2.16 bn; £1.33 bn), a rise of 24 % on the 1.23 bn euros recorded for the same period a year earlier. However, overall revenue fell by 12 %, from 19.6 bn euros to 17.4 bn euros. This was largely due to disappointing performance in the industrial sector, where revenue fell by 13 %. Revenue from energy products fell by 10 Challenging year "Earnings for the first quarter provide a gratifying snap-shot of the current situation, " said chief executive Peter Loescher. "The actions we took at a very early stage are now cushioning us from the ongoing repercussions of the global recession." However, the company was cautious in its outlook for the coming year. "Siemens anticipates that conditions in the manufacturing sector and world financial markets will remain challenging in fiscal 2010 " it said. "Following a double-digit decline in orders in fiscal 2009 , we expect only a mid-single-digit percentage decline in revenue in fiscal 2010.