Siemens steps up cost-saving programme to tackle coronavirus downturn

ZURICH (Reuters) - German industrial company Siemens <SIEGn.DE> is accelerating its cost-savings programme to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Deputy Chief Executive Roland Busch said on Friday.

"Compared with the announcement at our Capital Market Day in May 2019, we're now planning to achieve cost reductions totaling around 475 million euros ($514.95 million) by fiscal 2021, marking an additional increase of 165 million euros," he told a press conference after Siemens posted a big drop in its second-quarter earnings.

"Digital Industries will account for 135 million euros of these additional savings and 30 million euros will come from Smart Infrastructure. We're also right on track to achieve our savings target of approximately 300 million euros by 2021 through lean and effective governance," Busch said.

Busch, who is set to take over from Joe Kaeser as CEO, said the company's order backlog of 69 billion euros gave him confidence for the future.

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michelle Martin)