Industry ABB increases sales and profit in the third quarter

ABB grew in the third quarter of 2024 and also increased its profit. Orders also came in slightly higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. The forecast for the year as a whole has been adjusted slightly.

Sales rose by 2 percent to 8.15 billion US dollars, as ABB announced on Thursday. Adjusted for currency and portfolio effects, sales increased by the same amount. Order intake, i.e. the basis for future sales, also increased in US dollars and organically by 2 percent to 8.19 billion.

Profitability also increased in line with the higher capacity utilization. The operating margin (EBITA) increased by 1.6 percentage points to 19.0% (previous year: 17.4%). Net profit increased by 7% to 947 million US dollars.

The forecasts for the full year 2024 have been adjusted slightly. An operating EBITA margin of just over 18% is now expected, previously it was "around 18%". Like-for-like sales growth is now expected to be below 5%, compared to "around 5%" previously.

For the fourth quarter of 2024, ABB expects comparable revenue growth in the low to mid single-digit range and a repeat of the historical pattern of a negative book-to-bill ratio. The operating EBITA margin is expected to decline compared to the third quarter.