Thursday February 12, 06:36 AM
ABB annual net profit drops to 3.1 bln dlrs
ZURICH, (AFP) - Engineering (Milan: ENG.MI - news) giant ABB (Virt-X: ABBN.VX - news) said Thursday that its net profit slipped 17 percent in 2008 to 3.118 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros), with the fourth quarter particularly difficult.
Net profit for the quarter was just one-eighth of that in the previous year at 213 million dollars.
Orders dipped 19 percent in the fourth quarter to 7.2 billion dollars.
This was mainly the result of lower orders for large new power infrastructure projects, especially in emerging markets, and reduced investments in new industrial capacity, the company said.
However orders to upgrade power grids and replace equipment continued to grow, as did demand for energy efficient technologies.
Overall revenues continued to rise, by five percent to 9.1 billion dollars, as the company continued to fulfill its order backlog, and ABB said it had no significant order cancellations.
"Our solid revenue growth and cash flow in the quarter show the underlying operational strength of the company," said Joe Hogan, ABB?s Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.
"The outlook for 2009 remains uncertain," Hogan said. "We are taking steps now to ensure that we remain competitive, no matter how the market develops."
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