ABB reports Q2 earnings slightly above forecast as CEO bows out
Adds details on company performance throughout
ZURICH, July 18 (Reuters) -ABB ABBN.S on Thursday reported a slightly better-than-expected profit during the second quarter in the Swiss engineering group's final set of numbers under departing Chief Executive Bjorn Rosengren.
The maker of factory robots, ship motors and industrial drives said operational core profit (EBITA) for the April-June period rose by 10% to $1.56 billion, beating analyst forecasts for a figure of $1.54 billion.
"In the second quarter, demand was solid and the operational EBITA margin reached the all-time-high level of 19%," Rosengren said, even as he noted that there were one-off items that supported the company's performance.
"I am confident that ABB will continue to deliver long-term shareholder value in line with its targets as Morten Wierod takes over as CEO next month," he added.
In the second-quarter, revenues rose by 1% to $8.239 billion, equivalent to growth of 4% in comparable terms, ABB said.
In the third quarter, ABB expects a "sequentially higher growth rate" in comparable revenues and the operational EBITA margin to be around 18.5%, or slightly below, Rosengren added.
The former Sandvik SAND.ST and Wartsila WRT1V.HE CEO has led a turnaround at ABB since taking charge in 2020.
The 65-year-old has overseen a decentralisation of operations, simplifying the company's structure and selling and spinning off businesses, including its power conversion unit.
On his watch, ABB's operating profit margin rose from 10.2% in the first quarter of 2020 to 19.0% in the second quarter of this year. The share price has more than doubled since the start of 2020.
Orders nudged down 3% to $8.44 billion from $8.67 billion during the second quarter of last year. Rosengren said the firm had a "solid pipeline of orders going forward".
Robust order growth was recorded for the electrification and process automation sectors, and business was particularly vibrant in data centres, ABB said. Transport and infrastructure, including marine, ports and rail, were also positive.
Machine automation had endured a "challenging time", Rosengren said, which helped sap orders in Europe. E-mobility had been tough for a while, and this would continue during the "transformation" ABB was doing in 2024, he added.
Meanwhile, the performance in Australia and parts of the Middle East helped offset a decline in China, where the market environment is "stabilizing", ABB said.
For the full-year 2024, ABB said it expects comparable revenue growth of about 5%, and an operational EBITA margin of about 18%, sticking to prior guidance.
Free cash flow of $918 million was significantly better in the first half than it had been in 2023, the company said.
Writing by Dave Graham,
Additional reporting by John Revill, Linda Pasquini and Isabel Demetz
Editing by Miranda Murray and Miral Fahmy
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