ABB has posted higher operating margins in the second quarter of the year helped by a turnaround in its power grid business.
Operational EBITA margin improved to 12.7% as overall net profit fell 31% to $406m, the company said.
The engineering giant’s grid business posted an EBITA margin of 9% in the quarter, compared with 6.8% a year ago, as its revenues rose 1% to $2.79bn. Overall, group revenue fell 5% to $8.7bn.
In the past years, the company said its power grids division has been hit hard by transmission project issues in the German offshore wind sector.
This has led ABB to introduce a major turnaround designed to address the problems.
The division won $2.7bn in orders during the second quarter of the year, the same as last year.
“Exiting certain businesses in power grids had a negative impact on revenues of around 1%,” the company said.
“Utilities remained cautious but continued to make selective investments to integrate renewable energy and enhance energy security.
Image: ABB
