Siemens reported a net profit that beat analysts’ expectations, as it continued to benefit from strong data-center demand, and said it could cut thousands of jobs in response to a weakness in its automation business. The German industrial conglomerate ...

Shares in Siemens Energy jumped 20 per cent on Wednesday after the company reported an annual net profit of more than €1bn and upgraded its medium-term targets as it begins to emerge from a crisis in its wind turbine division.

Siemens Energy AG’s shares surged the most on record after the company lifted its midterm targets, citing growing demand for its grid technologies that offset losses at its beleaguered wind-turbine division.

Frankfurt’s Dax shed 0.2 per cent, lifted by Siemens Energy which rose 15 per cent after it raised its midterm outlook. The UK’s health secretary has set out plans to introduce league tables for the trusts that manage the country’s hospitals,