ABLZF - ABB Ltd. (ABBNY) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-07-19 17:07:01 ET
ABB, Ltd. (ABBNY)
Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call
July 18, 2024, 04:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Ann-Sofie Nordh - Head of IR
Bjorn Rosengren - CEO
Timo Ihamuotila - CFO
Morten Wierod - President, Electrification Business Area
Conference Call Participants
Daniela Costa - Goldman Sachs
Andy Wilson - JPMorgan
Martin Wilkie - Citi
Andre Kukhnin - UBS
Joe Giordano - TD Cowen
Max Yates - Morgan Stanley
William Mackie - Kepler Cheuvreux
Alex Virgo - Bank of America Merrill Lynch
James Moore - Redburn Atlantic
Alasdair Leslie - Bernstein
Presentation
Ann-Sofie Nordh
Greetings to you all and welcome to this presentation where we will talk through ABB's results for the second quarter. I'm Ann-Sofie Nordh, Head of Investor Relations, and next to me here today is our CFO, Timo Ihamuotila, and for the last time also our CEO, Bjorn Rosengren. They will take you through the presentation after which we as usual open up for the Q&A session.
Before we begin though I should mention the information regarding Safe Harbor notices and our use of non-GAAP measures on slide 2. And this call includes forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties.
And with that said, we kick off and I hand over to you, Bjorn.
Bjorn Rosengren
Thank you Ann-Sofie and a warm welcome from me as well. Let's start on slide 3 with a summary. The quarter developed pretty much as planned except for a couple of areas. First, the record high operational EBITA margin of 19% is better than we originally expected. This was driven by strong performance in three out of four business areas, while Robotics and Discrete Automation came in on the low side. We also had some margin support from one-offs and a slightly lower corporate line.
Secondly, the market for Machine Automation is now weaker than anticipated. And lastly performance in the Mobility business is weak. But for the most of our businesses the market activity was solid and I was very good to see growth in the short cycle orders. This compensated for the lower bookings in large orders compared with last year. Sustainability is core to ABB and part of the purpose. Our scope 1, 2 and 3 targets have now been approved by the science-based target initiative.
We are committed to reduce our own emissions and support our customers in their journey to transform towards low carbon and energy efficiency. A good example of this is the launch of the robotics new Omnicore controller. Compared with the previous version this controller can make the robot operate 25% faster and consume 20% less energy. It's really great to see our R&D efforts turn to customer value.
As an extension to our R&D we continue to invest in technology startups. This quarter we took minority position in two AI-based clean tech companies. But we also announced an acquisition in the Smart Building division. We complement our offering in wiring accessories and broadened our market reach in China by taking over Siemens' Wiring and Accessories. When the deal closes it will add revenues of more than $150 million....
ABB, Ltd. (ABBNY) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript