Latest quarterly results from Swiss companies
The Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB is back in the black and has reported first quarter profits above expectations.
The Zurich-based company said even though its net income dropped by 17 per cent to SFr188 million ($114 million) from a restated SFr227 million last year, the results were still above market expectations.
Incoming orders dropped by 19 per cent to SFr9.11 billion and sales dropped by four per cent to SFr8.5 billion.
In the 2001 financial year ABB incurred a record loss of SFr1.15 billion and financial analysts had expected this year’s first quarter sales to be down about five per cent.
ABB shares rose by three per cent in early trading after the announcement that the company remained confident it could hit its 2002 targets.
Gretag
The technology firm, Gretag Imaging, reported a net loss of SFr285.7 million for 2001, up from a loss of SFr45.8 million in the previous year.
The company said sales dropped by 48 per cent to SFr460.7 million and the operating loss was SFr257 million, compared with a loss of SFr35.3 million in 2000.
Gretag expects to break even next year, partly due to a cash injection from the United States photo giant, Kodak Co., which recently took over a five per cent stake in the company.
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