ABB Achieves “Satisfactory Start to 2013”

ABB today reported its first-quarter 2013 results, highlighting revenue growth and improved operational profitability despite a weak business environment.

“Given the continued uncertainties in the global economy, this is a satisfactory start to 2013,” said ABB Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan. “We continued to execute well, successfully balancing solid cost discipline with targeted growth in businesses and regions where we have competitive advantages, especially in areas like industrial efficiency, power reliability and renewable energy.

“Our balanced portfolio and global footprint contributed to the resilient performance, allowing us to find and capture growth opportunities in a mixed market. For example, we won some key orders in marine, mining, and robotics, and increased emerging market orders by 10 percent. We lifted total revenues on both an organic and inorganic basis.

“Our execution on cost remained strong, with tight discipline on G&A expenses,” Hogan said. “Continued success in sourcing and productivity improvements saved us about $260 million.

“The Thomas and Betts integration and synergies are on track. We’re very pleased with this acquisition and the improved balance it gives us in the North American market.

“The Power Products team turned in another good performance, with an operational EBITDA margin of 14.9 percent, again within our guidance of 14.5 to 15.0 percent range for the full year, thanks to solid execution on cost and selective growth initiatives in more profitable end markets.

“We achieved these results despite continued demand headwinds,” Hogan said. “Growth in the US decelerated further in the quarter and industrial investments in much of Europe remained mixed. Cash flow was lower than we’d like, but it was largely expected and mainly reflects the timing of project execution, so we expect to see that recover over the coming quarters.

“For the rest of the year, we’ll continue to focus on the cost-growth balance. Macroeconomic indicators remain unclear, which makes it tough to predict how the early-cycle businesses will perform. However, our strong order backlog will help mitigate some of that uncertainty, and we’re confident that our better balance across businesses and regions will continue to provide us with profitable growth opportunities.”

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Press Release, April 24, 2013