German industrial company Siemens 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 totalling around €475 million ($514.95 million) by fiscal 2021, marking an additional increase of €165 million,” he told a press conference after Siemens posted a big drop in its second-quarter earnings.

“Digital industries will account for €135 million of these additional savings and €30 million will come from smart infrastructure. We’re also right on track to achieve our savings target of approximately €300 million by 2021 through lean and effective governance,” Busch added.

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