Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
ABB is back on the winning track, and has reported excellent results again. Profits for the fourth quarter nearly doubled, and the backlog looks strong. Revenues for 2006 reached $24.4B up 11%. Strong Q4 helped lift full-year bookings by 22%. For the year 2006, net profit was up 89% to $1.4B, and cash flow was positive to the tune of about $2B.
By the end of 2007, ABB could accumulate more than $4 billion in cash, putting it back in a strong acquisition mode. Forewarned by past acquisition mid-adventures, ABB is likely to preserve focus in the core automation business. Rockwell has been mentioned as a potential target, though current market cap stands at some $10B, a stretch for ABB. Let's see - who else is a possible target?
