ABB's 1Q Profit Fell Sharply; Warns of 2Q Coronavirus Hit

   By Kim Richters 
 

ABB Ltd. on Tuesday reported a fall in net profit for the first quarter, and it warned that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to weigh on its results in 2Q.

The Swiss engineering company said its net profit fell 30% to $376 million from $535 million for the year-earlier period.

Its operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortization declined 17% to $636 million. Its operational Ebita margin fell to 10.2% from 11.2%.

Quarterly revenue declined 9% to $6.22 billion, while orders for the quarter fell 4% to $7.35 billion.

Overall, ABB beat analysts' expectations. ABB's 1Q revenue was forecast at $6 billion, operational Ebita at $552 million and net income at $189 million, according to a consensus provided by the company.

Most of the company's production sites are currently fully or partly operational, "with some disruption being experienced at production and service sites in specific countries," it said.

ABB earlier this year withdrew its guidance for the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It didn't provide an update for full-year outlook.

As for the company's second quarter, "we expect ABB's operations to be significantly challenged by a sharp drop in demand due to lockdowns in many parts of the world," the company's CEO Bjorn Rosengren said.

The company expects 2Q orders and revenues in all segments to show material sequential decline, with its robotics & discrete automation unit to decline over 30% year-on-year. It also expects margins to decline further due to volume loss.

Write to Kim Richters at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2020 01:40 ET (05:40 GMT)

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