UPDATE 1-CEO says ABB to outgrow global economy in 2009-paper
08.26.08, 1:59 PM ET
Thomson Financial News
ZURICH, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Swiss engineering group ABB expects to grow several times faster than the global economy next year, interim chief executive Michel Demare was quoted as saying in an interview with Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung.
Asked whether ABB (nyse: ABB - news - people ) would grow faster than a roughly 3 percent forecast for the global economy for next year, Demare said: 'It is quite obvious that ABB will exceed that several times in 2009.'
Demare also told the newspaper in the interview released on Tuesday, a day ahead of publication, that the company's clients from the energy infrastructure, oil, gas and mining industry are not holding back.
Demare said he was confident that all of the engineering group's core markets will continue to develop positively.
Large acquisitions were unlikely at the moment even though ABB could theoretically digest an acquisition of $15 billion without risking its investment grade credit rating, he said.
'The more small acquisitions we make, and gather experience with integrating them, the more likely large scale acquisitions become,' he explained.
Demare said ABB was currently considering all options to expand its small solar business.
Last month, ABB said it held $6 billion of net cash at the end of the second quarter.
Investors are keen to see how ABB's new chief executive Joseph Hogan, who will take over at the helm in September and has struck up to 50 deals as head of GE Medical Systems and GE Healthcare, will spend that cash pile.
(Reporting by Katie Reid and Andrew Thompson in Zurich; editing by Rory Channing) Keywords: ABB GROWTH/
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