Titel Short-cycle recovery, cost take-out lift ABB’s Q2 results Autor/Erfasser/Quelle ABB Firmenportrait ABB Schweiz AG Headline ABB’s orders grew 5 percent in the second quarter of 2010, led by increases of more than 20 percent in each of the company’s automation divisions on the strength of the global economic recovery.

Industrial customers continued to invest in energy-efficient automation and power 
solutions to increase productivity and quality. Investments by utilities in large power 
transmission projects, however, remained cautious in most regions. As a result, base 
orders (below $15 million) grew 15 percent in local currencies while large orders (above 
$15 million) declined by 37-percent. The order backlog has grown 5 percent since the 
beginning of the year.

Revenues were 5 percent lower than the year-earlier period, mainly due to order declines 
in 2009 and the beginning of 2010 that flowed through to sales in the second quarter. 

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased to $975 million, resulting in an 
EBIT margin of 12.9 percent. Included in EBIT are additional project costs in the Power 
Systems division of $80 million. Excluding net losses on derivative transactions and 
restructuring-related costs, the EBIT margin was 14.6 percent 2 . Savings in the quarter 
of more than $400 million from the company’s cost take-out program played a key role in 
maintaining profitability.

Cash from operations in the quarter was $649 million, down versus the same quarter a 
year earlier, while net income amounted to $623 million.

"The strong second quarter results show how we are using our improved cost base and 
leading position in key industrial markets to take maximum advantage of the global 
economic recovery,” said Joe Hogan, ABB's CEO. “It’s the great strength of ABB’s 
portfolio that automation can drive profitable growth during a period of lower power 
demand.

“We feel more confident about the recovery in most of our markets than three months ago 
and believe that our short-cycle businesses will continue to perform well over the rest 
of 2010. After the severe industrial recession of the last two years, customers have 
started again to invest in technologies for energy efficiency and productivity. We 
expect customer capital expenditures, especially on the power side, to recover later in 
2010 and into 2011,” Hogan said.

Das Unternehmen ermöglicht seinen Kunden in der Energieversorgung und der 
Industrie, ihre Leistung zu verbessern und gleichzeitig die Umweltbelastung zu 
reduzieren. ABB beschäftigt rund 105'000 Mitarbeitende in über 100 
Ländern.



In der Schweiz beschäftigt ABB rund 5’200 Mitarbeitende. Das Unternehmen 
konzentriert sich schwergewichtig auf die beiden Kernbereiche Energie- und 
Automationstechnik und liefert Systeme und Gesamtlösungen für Versorgungs- und 
Industrieunternehmen. Zudem ist ABB Weltmarktführer für die Aufladung von 
grossen Diesel- und Gasmotoren mittels Turboladern mit dem Label "Made in 
Switzerland".