By Mauro Orru
ABB Ltd. said Thursday that it is raising its revenue guidance for 2021 after preliminary figures for the first quarter showed a stronger-than-expected market development, particularly in the latter part of March.
The Swiss engineering company said it now expects comparable revenue growth of around 5% or higher in 2021, instead of comparable revenue growth broadly in line with its long-term target range, as previously expected.
The decision comes as ABB said first-quarter revenue rose to around $6.90 billion from $6.22 billion on year, while orders increased to about $7.75 billion from $7.35 billion.
ABB's operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortization margin for the quarter rose to around 13.5% from 10.2%, the company said.
"Quarterly demand is likely to have been supported by customer stock-building activities related to both component availability constraints and rising commodity prices in the industry," ABB said in a statement.
ABB will publish full first-quarter results on April 27.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-15-21 0119ET