ABB Q3 net up 41% on strong orders

Maker of equipment for power plants and electricity management, ABB Ltd, said profit rose 41% to Rs115.68 crore for the third quarter to September, as it got more orders from customers such as JSW Steel Ltd and state electricity boards.

ABB said revenue rose to Rs1,393.3 crore in the three months between July and September, an annual growth of 27%. ABB had reported profit of Rs82.14 crore on sales of Rs1,093.6 crore in the third quarter in 2006.

ABB, the Indian subsidiary of ABB Group in Zurich, Switzerland, sees busines opportunity in India’s increased spending on electricity distribution and setting up new power plants to fuel the country’s economy growing at more than 9%.

“Our order book is getting stronger, helped by core business growth as well as new revenue streams and we continue to be positive on the market outlook,” said Biplab Majumder, country manager and managing director, ABB India, in a statement.

In the nine months to September, ABB has got orders of Rs5,665 crore, an increase of 35% over the same period last year. The order intake during the third quarter was Rs1,668.3 crore, 23% higher than in July-September 2006.

“Capacity and range expansion is under way across businesses to enable us to address India’s growing power and automation needs,” said ­Majumder.