MUNICH—German engineering giant Siemens AG reported a 63% drop in net profit for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2016, after the year-earlier figures were buoyed by one-off gains from asset sales.

Net profit for the period ended March 31 was €1.44 billion ($1.65 billion) compared with €3.89 billion last year, beating analysts' forecasts. Analysts had expected net profit of €1.13 billion, according to a recent poll by The Wall Street Journal.

The sharp decline in net profit year-over-year was mainly attributable to divestments of around €3 billion, which were reflected in the company's net profit in the second quarter of 2015.

However, Siemens's industrial business profit margin for the quarter rose to 10.9%, compared with 9% last year, driven by the group's energy businesses, including the power and gas division.

Second-quarter revenue for 2016 rose by 5%, to €19 billion, while new orders were up 7%, at €22.29 billion, both helped by strong growth at the power and gas and wind power and renewables units.

Siemens reiterated its guidance for the current fiscal year, saying it expects earning per-share in a range of €6 to €6.4 and an industrial business profit margin of between 10% and 11%.

Write to Christopher Alessi at christopher.alessi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2016 01:25 ET (05:25 GMT)