ABB, a Swedish-Swiss industrial corporation, said that its orders in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) grew 7 per cent (11 per cent in US dollars) with good order demand from China, India and the UAE during the second quarter of 2018.

Net income was $681 million, up 30 per cent compared to the prior year’s $525 million. ABB’s operational net income2 rose 27 per cent to $810 million. Basic earnings per share of $0.32 was 30 per cent higher year-on-year.

Revenues were up 1 per cent (5 per cent higher in US dollars), well-supported by continued solid growth in Robotics and Motion and Electrification Products. Operational earnings per share of $0.38 was up 28 per cent and 27 per cent better in constant currency terms4.

Base orders rose 7 per cent (12 per cent in US dollars) with positive contributions from China, India and Australia more than offsetting lower intake from South Korea and South Africa. In China, total and base orders increased 20 per cent and 23 per cent (29 per cent and 32 per cent in US dollars) respectively.

“In the second quarter, we drove order growth in all divisions and across all regions. Through our continued productivity efforts, we delivered margin improvement and double-digit operational EPS growth,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “We completed the acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions within the committed time-frame and have started the integration at full speed together with our new colleagues.”

“With disciplined focus on relentless execution, our four divisions are continuing their drive towards world-class efficiency and effectiveness,” he added. “These results show that our transformation over the past years is delivering.”

Total orders rose 8 per cent (14 per cent in US dollars), up in all divisions and regions compared to a year ago. Base orders (classified as orders below $15 million) increased 9 per cent (14 per cent in US dollars), up in all divisions and regions.

Large orders represented 7 per cent of total orders, compared to 8 per cent in the same quarter of 2017. ABB’s comprehensive digital offering, ABB Ability™, was a significant contributor to the quarter’s order growth.

The book-to-bill ratio increased to 1.07x at the end of the quarter compared with 0.99x in the previous year.

Service orders were up 2 per cent (5 per cent in US dollars) on a tough comparable period. Service orders represent 19 per cent of total orders, compared to 20 per cent in the prior year period.

Changes in the business portfolio related to the acquisition of B&R resulted in a net positive impact of 3 per cent on total reported orders. A stronger US dollar versus the prior year period provided a 3 per cent positive translation impact on reported orders.

Demand n the majority of ABB’s key customer segments:

Utility demand was mixed in the second quarter. Activity related to grid integration for renewables and investments in improving grid reliability, particularly through digitalization, continued to grow. Larger grid investments, for example in long distance transmission, remained subdued.

Industrial demand grew well across a broad customer base in the quarter. Process industries, including oil and gas and mining, continued to increase investments, with capex concentrated on upgrading and automating brown-field assets. An ongoing focus on select industries such as food and beverage and automotive, proved beneficial for order momentum, particularly ABB’s automation and robotics solutions.

Transport and infrastructure demand was solid, with good orders received for rail electrification, from the construction sector and in specialty vessels. Highlights for the quarter include continued strong growth in data centers and for electric vehicle fast-charging solutions. – TradeArabia News Service