Cost take-out holds EBIT margin on target, strong cash flow of more than $1 bn

Orders declined to $7.1 billion, equivalent to a local-currency reduction of 15 percent, while revenues decreased to $7.9 billion, lower by 5-percent in local currency. (Management discussion of orders and revenues focuses on local currency changes. U.S. dollar changes are reported in the results tables). Investments in power grids continued to grow but lower demand for shorter-cycle products in industrial markets resulted in a 23-percent local currency decrease in base orders (below $15 million). The order decrease also reflects price declines resulting from both lower material costs and weaker demand. The share of orders from emerging markets increased to 55 percent.



EBIT was positively impacted by previously-announced adjustments to provisions and the mark-to-market treatment of hedging transactions. Restructuring-related costs were approximately $40 million.



Excluding these factors, EBIT and EBIT margin were lower than in the same quarter in 2008, primarily reflecting the business mix, decreased capacity utilization and lower prices in short-cycle businesses. These impacts were partially offset by ABB’s cost take-out program which yielded savings in the quarter of approximately $500 million.



Net income of $1 billion includes the positive $380-million net contribution from the provision adjustments mentioned above. Cash from operations was $1.3 billion on a significant reduction in inventories and improved cash collection.



“We turned in a strong cash performance this quarter and held EBIT margins well within our target range thanks to the continued timely execution of the order backlog and further progress in our cost take-out program,” said Joe Hogan, ABB's Chief Executive Officer.



“Order trends were in line with what we saw in the second quarter, with steady demand in power and oil and gas but lower base orders in industrial markets,” Hogan said. “We’ll continue to focus on making sure our costs are in line with market demand, but at the same time stay aggressively positioned to capture the significant growth opportunities in power infrastructure, renewables, energy efficiency and emerging markets.”