ABB reported a 24-percent increase in operational EBITDA in the third quarter on double-digit revenue growth compared with the third quarter of last year.
In addition to higher revenues, the increase reflects successful cost reductions that continued to more than offset price pressure. The recent Baldor acquisition also made a significant contribution to both revenues and earnings.
Customer investments to increase operational efficiency translated into higher orders for products such as electrical motors and robots, while capacity expansion and the need for service drove higher orders in the oil and gas sector. The need to strengthen power distribution networks, driven in part by industrial growth in emerging markets, as well as the integration of renewable energy supplies into power grids, lifted orders in the power businesses.
“This was a solid quarter where we continued to execute well,” said Joe Hogan, ABB’s CEO . “Our cost savings efforts again more than offset price pressure in power and we continued to build the order backlog, which will support growth in the coming quarters. Growth in our early-cycle businesses slowed this quarter, partly on comparisons to the very strong rates we saw a year ago as well as weaker demand in some industry sectors.
“Looking ahead, uncertainty around global growth makes it difficult to forecast. Based on recent developments and in line with slowing economic growth, however, we expect order growth in most of our early-cycle businesses to remain near current levels until confidence in the macroeconomic outlook improves. Meanwhile, the longer-term outlook remains positive. The world needs to get more from its power and industrial resources while reducing environmental impacts. ABB is in a great position, with our leading technology, broad global presence and strong balance sheet, to help our customers meet that challenge.”
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Source: abb, October 27, 2011