Swiss automation and engineering powerhouse ABB Inc. kept global economic turmoil mostly at arm’s length in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2008, reporting a 22% rise in revenue and a 26% surge in net income. But new CEO Joe Hogan said that flattening orders make it difficult to forecast into 2009.
For the third quarter, ABB recorded sales of $8.79 billion, up from $7.19 billion a year earlier, and net income of $927 million, compared with $738 million in the year-earlier quarter.
“We continue to benefit from long-term trends to expand and upgrade power infrastructure, improve industrial productivity, and lower environmental impact,” Hogan said in a statement. The company also said it is on target to hit earlier full-year targets of 15% to 20% growth for power-related activities and more than 10% growth in automation activities.
But on a conference call with journalists this morning, Hogan was unwilling to predict the company’s 2009 financial performance. “We all know the world has changed in a dramatic sense in the last 30 days, the last 40 days,” he said. “We just have to watch this closely.”