Latest news with #Wierod
The Star
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
ABB posts record orders on booming US and data centre demand
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss engineering group ABB reported on Thursday its highest-ever quarterly order intake, helped by surging demand from the United States and for products used in data centres being built to support artificial intelligence. Orders in the United States, the company's biggest market, jumped 37% in the second quarter, outpacing a 14% rise in the group's orders overall, ABB said. Chief Executive Morten Wierod said the increase was driven by one big order and customers investing in automation and electrification, and was not due to pre-ordering to avoid the fallout of higher tariffs imposed by the United States. "Demand for electricity is going up quickly," Wierod told reporters. "That is being used by data centres, but also a lot of other industries are increasing their electricity consumption." ABB makes around 80% of its products sold in the United States locally, which protects it against tariffs, Wierod said. "There is no point pre-buying because we will not be hit by tariffs," he added. For the three months to the end of June, ABB reported a 9% rise in core operating income to $1.71 billion, beating analyst forecasts of $1.65 billion. Net income of $1.15 billion was better than the $1.12 billion expected by analysts in a company-supplied consensus. Revenue rose 8% to $8.90 billion, ahead of forecasts for $8.72 billion. The company's stock was up 7% in mid-morning trading in Zurich. Only ABB's robotics business was affected by the current trade uncertainty as automotive customers held off on investments while they waited to find out the final level of import duties. But the company's data centre business continued to do well, posting an increase in orders in the range of 10-20% during the quarter, with strong demand expected to continue. U.S. companies announced a series of big-ticket AI and energy investment pledges earlier this week, part of a push by President Donald Trump to maintain the country's edge in the booming technology sector. Around half of ABB's data centre business is in the United States, with around 30-35% in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and the rest in Europe. (Reporting by John Revill. Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter)
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ABB to increase local US production to reduce tariff impact
By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss engineering group ABB is expanding its local production in the United States and other countries to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Morten Wierod said on Thursday. ABB has already pledged this year to spend $120 million to expand production of low voltage electrical equipment in the U.S. at its sites in Tennessee and Mississippi and will continue to invest, Wierod told Reuters. The company, which produces electrification equipment, industrial machinery and factory robots, has been growing its sales from local production globally. "In India we have a target to get to above 90% local production. We have the same target in China, Europe and also the U.S.," he said after ABB reported its first-quarter figures. "We will do this mainly through organic investments, but inorganic moves can also be a part of that," he added. The drive to become more self-sufficient would help ABB mitigate the impact of tariffs, Wierod said, while the company was also spending to meet market growth. Currently 75-80% of ABB's sales for the United States are produced domestically, while 85% of its sales in India and China are produced locally. In Europe the figure is around 95%. "We have spent about $500 million over the last three years in the U.S., and we will continue at that rate. The overall spending will go up rather than down. It's a constant project," Wierod said. "We will see more of that to become less dependent on imports from outside the U.S," he added. Trump's tariffs and the lack of certainty created by their on-again off-again nature have roiled global markets, destabilised the United States' trading partners and left companies reassessing their operations. ABB expects only limited impact from tariffs on its business for the rest of the year however, the company said. It did not have a time frame to reach its local production targets, Wierod said. And, as the company aimed to continue benefiting from economies of scale, it was not aiming for 100% production in any one country. The COVID-19 pandemic also illustrated the importance of having flexible local production to enable uninterrupted supplies, if global supply chains experience difficulties. "It's important for customers to know, even if we are a single-source supplier, we have factories that can still supply them if there's trade disruptions," Wierod said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
17-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
ABB to increase local US production to reduce tariff impact
ZURICH, April 17 (Reuters) - Swiss engineering group ABB (ABBN.S), opens new tab is expanding its local production in the United States and other countries to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Morten Wierod said on Thursday. ABB has already pledged this year to spend $120 million to expand production of low voltage electrical equipment in the U.S. at its sites in Tennessee and Mississippi and will continue to invest, Wierod told Reuters. The company, which produces electrification equipment, industrial machinery and factory robots, has been growing its sales from local production globally. "In India we have a target to get to above 90% local production. We have the same target in China, Europe and also the U.S.," he said after ABB reported its first-quarter figures. "We will do this mainly through organic investments, but inorganic moves can also be a part of that," he added. The drive to become more self-sufficient would help ABB mitigate the impact of tariffs, Wierod said, while the company was also spending to meet market growth. Currently 75-80% of ABB's sales for the United States are produced domestically, while 85% of its sales in India and China are produced locally. In Europe the figure is around 95%. "We have spent about $500 million over the last three years in the U.S., and we will continue at that rate. The overall spending will go up rather than down. It's a constant project," Wierod said. "We will see more of that to become less dependent on imports from outside the U.S," he added. Trump's tariffs and the lack of certainty created by their on-again off-again nature have roiled global markets, destabilised the United States' trading partners and left companies reassessing their operations. ABB expects only limited impact from tariffs on its business for the rest of the year however, the company said. It did not have a time frame to reach its local production targets, Wierod said. And, as the company aimed to continue benefiting from economies of scale, it was not aiming for 100% production in any one country. The COVID-19 pandemic also illustrated the importance of having flexible local production to enable uninterrupted supplies, if global supply chains experience difficulties. "It's important for customers to know, even if we are a single-source supplier, we have factories that can still supply them if there's trade disruptions," Wierod said.
Reuters
30-01-2025
- Business
- Reuters
ABB CEO sees growth in data centre business despite rise of DeepSeek
ZURICH, Jan 30 (Reuters) - ABB (ABBN.S), opens new tab expects increased demand from the data centre market for its electrification products, CEO Morten Wierod said on Thursday, despite the promise of lower-energy AI models from China's DeepSeek. DeepSeek, a low-cost alternative to U.S. rivals, sparked a tech stock selloff on Monday as its free AI assistant overtook OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's App Store in the United States. The news prompted investors to dump tech stocks on worries DeepSeek's model - which uses far fewer chips at data centres used to power AI - could threaten the dominance of advanced chipmakers like Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab. Suppliers to data centres also lost ground, with ABB's stock shedding nearly 6% on Monday. Wierod said DeepSeek's popularity had "raised eyebrows and created a lot of uncertainty in the market. "We have talked with our large partners and customers to see how this would impact their capex plans," he told reporters after ABB reported fourth-quarter results. "And the answer we receive ... is that it does not really affect the plans that are already in place." ABB has been a beneficiary of the increase in data centres, a market which Fortune Business Insights forecast to grow by nearly 12% per year to reach $685 billion by 2032. ABB's data centre-related orders increased 23% per year on average in 2019-2023, and even faster in 2024 to make up 15% of its electrification business, from 12% in 2023 and 8% in 2022. Wierod declined to give a forecast for 2025, but was confident about future demand, adding he saw potential for the company in China. ABB said it was well placed to benefit from the need to reduce the massive energy consumption of data centres as well as the $500 billion private sector investment in AI infrastructure announced by U.S. president Donald Trump last week. It says its motors and variable speed drives can reduce electricity consumption by up to 60%, while its uninterrupted power supply products run at 97.4% efficiency when converting electricity. "The need for data center and AI will be very strong in the coming years," Wierod said. "I have no doubt."
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ABB CEO sees growth in data centre business despite rise of DeepSeek
By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) - ABB expects increased demand from the data centre market for its electrification products, CEO Morten Wierod said on Thursday, despite the promise of lower-energy AI models from China's DeepSeek. DeepSeek, a low-cost alternative to U.S. rivals, sparked a tech stock selloff on Monday as its free AI assistant overtook OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's App Store in the United States. The news prompted investors to dump tech stocks on worries DeepSeek's model - which uses far fewer chips at data centres used to power AI - could threaten the dominance of advanced chipmakers like Nvidia. Suppliers to data centres also lost ground, with ABB's stock shedding nearly 6% on Monday. Wierod said DeepSeek's popularity had "raised eyebrows and created a lot of uncertainty in the market. "We have talked with our large partners and customers to see how this would impact their capex plans," he told reporters after ABB reported fourth-quarter results. "And the answer we receive ... is that it does not really affect the plans that are already in place." ABB has been a beneficiary of the increase in data centres, a market which Fortune Business Insights forecast to grow by nearly 12% per year to reach $685 billion by 2032. ABB's data centre-related orders increased 23% per year on average in 2019-2023, and even faster in 2024 to make up 15% of its electrification business, from 12% in 2023 and 8% in 2022. Wierod declined to give a forecast for 2025, but was confident about future demand, adding he saw potential for the company in China. ABB said it was well placed to benefit from the need to reduce the massive energy consumption of data centres as well as the $500 billion private sector investment in AI infrastructure announced by U.S. president Donald Trump last week. It says its motors and variable speed drives can reduce electricity consumption by up to 60%, while its uninterrupted power supply products run at 97.4% efficiency when converting electricity. "The need for data center and AI will be very strong in the coming years," Wierod said. "I have no doubt." Sign in to access your portfolio
