, Columnist
The Little Red Flag in Siemens's Earnings
The German company needs to be consistent about how it measures earnings growth
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Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser has a mantra about financial results: "Make the numbers, no excuses, no surprises." But a look at the German manufacturer's earnings per share targets over the past couple of years suggests he should add: "Be consistent."
On Thursday, Kaeser pleased investors by hiking the dividend and saying he would buy back as much as 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) of shares. He also predicted earnings per share would rise at least 14 percent in 2016. That's where the issue about consistency kicks in.