Bloomberg reported that Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, almost doubled the profit generated by its financial services unit, giving a boost to orders as it lured customers struggling to secure funding for equipment.

The report states that pretax profit from Siemens Financial Services jumped 95% to $260 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011.
 
According to the report, Chief Financial Officer Joe Kaeser said tighter availability of credit means more customers are looking to expand using project loans with Siemens Financial Services.  Siemens said on Sept. 29 its financing arm aims to double business in the next five years and mop up extra clients as banks cut lending to fend off Europe’s debt crisis.