BERLIN, Nov 8 Reuters Siemens Healthineers on Wednesday posted better than expected fourthquarter results helped by its cancer care unit and proposed an unchanged dividend for its fiscal year 2023.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes EBIT reached 1.013 billion euros 1.08 billion in the three months through September on revenue of 6.056 billion, the medical device maker said.

Analysts had expected fourthquarter adjusted EBIT of 981 million euros on revenue of 5.87 billion, according to a companyprovided poll.

The medical equipment group said it expects adjusted basic earnings per share to be between 2.10 and 2.30 euros and comparable revenue growth of between 4.5 to 6.5 in its fiscal year 2024.

It proposed to pay an unchanged dividend of 0.95 euros per share.

Its Diagnostics unit, which encompasses its laboratory testing and was hit by continuously low demand for COVID19 tests, saw its quarterly revenue fall 10.6 in the quarter. The EBIT margin fell to 2 from 11.7 in the previous year39; period.

Siemens Healthineers is weighing options for its diagnostics arm as part of its efforts to streamline operations, a person familiar with the situation has said. The review could lead to a sale of the unit but all options remain open, the source said.

For the 2024 financial year, the group forecast the EBIT margin for the unit, excluding COVID tests, to be between 2.5 and 4.5. By 2025 it sees earnings grow by at least market rate and margin reaching the mid teens.

1…