ABB announces first-half profit up 32 percent

(AP) -- Swiss-Swedish electrical company Asea Brown Boveri on Wednesday announced a net profit of $839 million for the first half of this year, up 32 percent on the same period last year.

(AP) — Swiss-Swedish electrical company Asea Brown Boveri on Wednesday announced a net profit of $839 million for the first half of this year, up 32 percent on the same period last year.

Higher revenues and gains from the formation of a power generation joint venture, ABB Alstom Power, were among the reasons for the increase from last year’s figure of $638 million, the company said.

“Our results are encouraging, especially considering that industrial demand in many markets is growing only slowly,” ABB chief executive Goeran Lindahl said in a statement.

ABB also reported a 10 percent rise in sales for the period, which reached $11.77 billion, up from $10.69 billion last year.

Net profit rose 12 percent excluding the gains resulting from the formation of ABB Alstom Power, ABB said.

Lindahl said he expects profit and revenues for the whole of 1999 to surpass levels reached in 1998. The group’s net profit last year was $1.3 billion.