ABB 2Q profit up 34 percent to $975 million
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday July 24, 8:50 am ET
ABB posts 34 percent increase in 2nd-quarter profit to $975 million
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- ABB Ltd. said Thursday its second-quarter earnings rose 34 percent to $975 million on strong global demand for reliable electrical power generation and improved industrial efficiency.
Last year, ABB posted quarterly profit of $729 million.
The Swiss-Swedish electrical engineering firm said it had record orders, revenue and earnings before interest and taxes for the three months and that operational improvements contributed to increased profitability.
"This was a record quarter for ABB," said Chief Executive Michel Demare. "Global demand for our market-leading technologies in power infrastructure, energy efficiency and industrial productivity remained at high levels."
Earnings before interest and taxes were $1.4 billion, up 42 percent from a year earlier. Revenue increased by 27 percent to $9 billion.
Orders increased in all divisions and were up 31 percent to a single-quarter record of $11.3 billion, ABB said. It was also the first quarter in which orders from emerging markets exceeded orders from the mature economies, accounting for 51 percent of total orders received.
"Our strong market positions in both the emerging and mature economies continue to provide us with excellent organic growth opportunities," Demare said.
The company said utilities were investing in new and refurbished power infrastructure and that industrial customers, especially in the oil and gas, marine and minerals sectors, expanded capacity.
"The need for more energy efficient industrial technologies to meet the challenges of rising energy and raw materials costs also continued to drive growth," it said. |
