ABB has reported a 13% drop in orders in the third quarter due to macroeconomic uncertainties such as the Brexit and the US elections.
Orders declined 21% in the power grid business, compared with a year ago, as revenue in the unit rose 1% to $2.6bn.
The engineering giant said the drop was primarily due to the timing of large order awards as well as sluggishness in some markets such as the US, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
The power grid unit, which is in the middle of a major turnaround, increased its operational Ebita margin by 1.7 percentage points to 9.5%.
ABB has appointed Timo Ihamuotila as its new chief financial officer, replacing Eric Elzvik. Ihamuotila, who joins from Nokia, will take up the position next April.
“We delivered the eighth consecutive quarter of margin accretion through our continued focus on execution,” ABB chief executive Ulrich Spiesshofer said. “In the third quarter, we experienced significant macro uncertainties around Brexit and the US elections as reflected in the low order pattern.”
“Orders in power grids were additionally dampened by the hesitation of customers prior to the Capital Markets Day,” he said. “However, the power grids transformation is on track as clearly demonstrated by the 170 basis points margin accretion.”
Image: ABB
