Engineering giant ABB on April 27 reported a 41% increase in first quarter net profit, driven by strong demand from industry and power utilities.
Net profit reached $655 million during the first three months of the year while revenues registered their strongest quarterly growth in two years with an increase of 21% to $8.4 billion.
Orders grew by 28%across all of the engineering group's divisions.
"Our results show we're gaining traction in both growth and profitability," said chief executive Joe Hogan, predicting "continued strong demand."
"ABB's long-term key growth drivers remain intact-the increasing need for energy efficiency, industrial productivity and more reliable power infrastructure in both the mature and emerging economies," he added.
ABB experienced a 12% drop in annual net profit last year to $2.56 billion, announcing large cost cutting but forecasting that emerging markets would drive growth through 2011.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
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