ZURICH, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Swiss engineering group ABB is bracing for slow growth for the foreseeable future, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
'The question is how steep the growth curve will be when we emerge from the recession,' CEO Joe Hogan said in an interview with Switzerland's HandelsZeitung.
Economic growth was likely to be slow for a long time. 'This is at least the scenario I expect for ABB,' Hogan said.
ABB, which sells power equipment to utilities as well as to oil and gas companies, is expected to benefit from various government stimulus packages but has repeatedly hit a cautious tone about demand, saying it is very difficult to tell when the recovery will come.
Its automation business units have been hit harder by the downturn than those units focused on power and will face increasing pressure until the middle of 2010, Hogan said.
The group's targets up to 2011 were still valid, Hogan said, but he added ABB would lower its mid-term goals for its Robotics unit, which has suffered from a collapse in the auto industry.
ABB is aiming for revenue growth of between 8 percent and 11 percent and for an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin of between 11 percent and 16 percent in the mid-term.
At 0754 GMT, shares in the group were trading 0.5 percent lower at 20.64 Swiss francs, while the Dow Jones industrial goods and services index was slightly firmer.
(Reporting by Katie Reid; Editing by Hans Peters) Keywords: ABB/ (katie.reid@reuters.com; +41 58 306 7320; Reuters Messaging:katie.reid.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'The question is how steep the growth curve will be when we emerge from the recession,' CEO Joe Hogan said in an interview with Switzerland's HandelsZeitung.
Economic growth was likely to be slow for a long time. 'This is at least the scenario I expect for ABB,' Hogan said.
ABB, which sells power equipment to utilities as well as to oil and gas companies, is expected to benefit from various government stimulus packages but has repeatedly hit a cautious tone about demand, saying it is very difficult to tell when the recovery will come.
Its automation business units have been hit harder by the downturn than those units focused on power and will face increasing pressure until the middle of 2010, Hogan said.
The group's targets up to 2011 were still valid, Hogan said, but he added ABB would lower its mid-term goals for its Robotics unit, which has suffered from a collapse in the auto industry.
ABB is aiming for revenue growth of between 8 percent and 11 percent and for an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin of between 11 percent and 16 percent in the mid-term.
At 0754 GMT, shares in the group were trading 0.5 percent lower at 20.64 Swiss francs, while the Dow Jones industrial goods and services index was slightly firmer.
(Reporting by Katie Reid; Editing by Hans Peters) Keywords: ABB/ (katie.reid@reuters.com; +41 58 306 7320; Reuters Messaging:katie.reid.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.