The logo of Siemens company is pictured in front of a factory in Berlin, in this file picture taken March 28, 2007. [Photo/Agencies]

FRANKFURT, Germany - Industrial machinery maker Siemens saw quarterly net profit fall sharply due to a large charge for leaving its nuclear joint venture with Areva SA.

Earnings for the quarter that ended June 30 fell to euro501 million ($719 million) from euro1.4 billion in the year-earlier period.

Revenue increased 2.4 percent to euro17.844 billion, short of market expectations for euro18.2 billion.

Chief executive Peter Loescher, who on Wednesday was given a five-year extension of his contract, said the company was still on track to meet its 2011 targets despite an uncertain global economy and cited a sharp rise in new orders, including a euro3.7 billion order for high-speed trains in Germany.

"Our markets are still robust, although risks are tending to increase in the global economic environment," he said in a statement.

The company took more than a billion euros in one-time charges. Earnings were reduced euro682 million by an arbitration award after it decided to end its nuclear cooperation with France's Areva SA and seek another partner.

It also took a euro382 million writeoff after reevaluating the commercial feasibility of using its particle therapy machines for general patient treatment.

Munich-based Siemens makes heavy industrial equipment such as trains and streetcars, power generation and transmission equipment, and medical diagnostic machinery.