ABB sees 30% fewer orders in 2003

Swiss-Swedish ABB Group, one of the leading players on the domestic energy equipment and service market estimates its order volume on the Romanian market to be worth approximately 70 million dollars, down 30 percent from last year. The group’s officials had seen the decline of ABB’s Romanian business coming, and provided for it in the budget, targeting 65 million dollars for 2003, given that it is only natural for this kind of business to experience ups and downs, as they say. Furthermore, the market did not grow as expected, ABB’s representatives added.

ABB’s operations on the Romanian market include those of the local branch – ABB Romania and those of the other companies of the group operating in Romania.

“ABB’s Romanian operations are sound and stable. The yearly fluctuations in the volume of orders are only natural for this kind of business, if considering that major retooling deals may or may not be signed during a specific year. On the other hand, ABB sold its interest in ABB Rometrics through the global deal closed with Ruhrgas this year, and the company in Timisoara was logging about 5 million dollars in annual revenues,” Peter Simon, ABB Romania’s chairman told Ziarul Financiar. ABB sold its metering operations to German Siemens Group for 244 million dollars in 2002, with the stakes taken over including the 60 percent ABB had in ABB Rometrics SRL Timisoara.

ABB Romania’s orders for this year account for approximately 28-30 million dollars out of the total 70 million dollar business.

“An increase in the day by day business (i.e. sales of electrical transformers and other electrical equipment) in our portfolio can be seen on a yearly basis, and this business has now come to account for one third of the total. Unlike rehabilitation projects, which fluctuate in a company’s portfolio year by year, the day by day businesses see a linear growth, which induces stability. The market of such equipment has a great deal of potential and is growing, we can feel it,” Simon says. He expects ABB’s order volume to amount to 60-70 million dollars in 2004.

The global energy service and equipment market, which players estimate to be worth 500 million dollars a year, sees ABB, Siemens, Alstom, Schneider or Moeller on top, joined by other international players such as General Electric, Honeywell (US), Itochu (Japan) or Swiss VaTech Group over the last few years.