Baldor Electric

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 billi...

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