ABB Ltd. raised its guidance for the year after a surge of new orders added to its backlog and higher prices drove better than expected results.
(Bloomberg) — ABB Ltd. raised its guidance for the year after a surge of new orders added to its backlog and higher prices drove better than expected results.
The Swiss industrial manufacturer now expects comparable revenue to increase by more than 10% in 2023, after estimating roughly 5% in February, according to a statement Tuesday. The company also slightly lifted its margin forecast.
ABB has been able to weather the economic slowdown as a backlog of sales kept order books full. The company, which sees orders coming down from elevated levels this year, has also been able to pass through price increases to offset record inflation.
New customer orders reached $9.5 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 1% compared to the previous year and exceeding an average analyst estimate of $8.3 billion.
“ABB had a strong start to the year, with a positive development in most measures,” Chief Executive Officer Björn Rosengren said in a statement. “This gives us the confidence to raise our 2023 guidance.”
Rosengren has been under pressure from some minority investors to streamline the conglomerate. ABB sold its power-conversion unit in January for $505 million and listed its Accelleron turbocharging division in October. The company also plans to list its electric-car charging operations but has postponed the share sale due to unfavorable market conditions. That deal has been valued by minority investors at about 2.5 billion Swiss Francs ($2.7 billion).
ABB also said it plans to delist its American Depository Receipts from the NYSE, saying it’s no longer necessary now that investors can trade digitally on multiple platforms. The delisting is expected to take effect on or around May 23.
(Updates with date of ADR delisting in final paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.