ABB Warns On Margin Pressure In Early 2012 As Net Profit Jumps

ABB Ltd (ABB) Thursday said it expects low single-digit growth in most of its early-cycle businesses until confidence in the economy improves, as recent acquisitions and solid demand in emerging markets underpinned a robust rise in fourth quarter net profit.

The Zurich-based company, whose main competitors include Germany's Siemens AG (SI) and France's Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR), said net profit climbed to $830 million from $700 million a year earlier, missing analyst forecasts of $941 million.

"The unfavorable business mix seen in most divisions in the fourth quarter of 2011 is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2012, weighing on margins. This trend is not expected to continue over the rest of the year," ABB said.

ABB, whose products range from power cables and transformers to robotics and industrial control systems, said orders rose to 16% to $10.16 billion in the three months to Dec. 31 from a year earlier. The value of the company's order backlog rose 5% to $27.51 billion.

ABB's sales in the quarter rose 15% to $10.57 billion from $9.18 billion, beating expectations for $10.27 billion, with sales in the Americas, where ABB has made several recent acquisitions, up 40% to $2.57 billion. Sales in Asia rose 10% to $2.86 billion and were up 12% to $3.99 billion in Europe.

Earnings before interest and taxes rose 15% to $1.12 billion.

ABB said it saw good demand for energy efficiency solutions in industry and for grid expansions and refurbishment, adding that it expects that trend to continue.

While ABB said there are signs of recovery in North America and China, which seem to be returning to a focus on growth, uncertainty around government budget deficits in Europe remains high, it said. Orders received in Europe in the fourth quarter fell 8% to $3.48 billion.

After years of abstaining from big acquisitions, ABB has resumed an aggressive takeover strategy under Chief Executive Joe Hogan, who joined from U.S. competitor General Electric Co. (GE) in 2008. The group is roughly half way through a targeted $18 billion in small to medium-sized acquisitions set for 2011 to 2015.

ABB agreed to buy U.S. low-voltage gear maker Thomas & Betts Corp. (TNB) for $3.9 billion earlier this year. The deal was preceded by the $4.2 billion takeover of U.S. electric motor maker Baldor Electric Co. in 2011. ABB spent more than $1 billion buying U.S. software maker Ventyx in 2010.

-By Sven Grundberg, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

(Goran Mijuk in Zurich contributed to this article)