The logo of ABB is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland September 10, 2020. Picture taken September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
ZURICH, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Swiss engineering group ABB on Thursday said it was confident about 2026 as it reported fourth-quarter earnings slightly ahead of forecasts and launched a new $2 billion share buyback.
The maker of electrification systems and motors has been benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom, teaming up with companies including chipmaker Nvidia to develop power systems for next-generation AI data centres.
ABB said it was also seeing strong demand from rail customers as well as the marine and port sector, recently signing a deal to build a system to power 32 container ships at once while they load and unload in Rotterdam.
ABB shares were indicated 3.9% higher in premarket activity in Zurich.
Chief Executive Morten Wierod said he was feeling upbeat after a fourth quarter in which ABB won more than $10 billion in new orders for the first time.
During that quarter, ABB said its operational EBITA rose 19% to $1.58 billion, ahead of forecasts for $1.54 billion in a company-compiled consensus.
Revenue rose 13% to $9.05 billion, beating forecasts for $8.73 billion. The figures did not include the contribution from ABB's robotics business, which the company is selling.
"Q4 was a strong finish to a record year for ABB," said Wierod in a statement.
"We lead in markets with strong secular trends ... which gives me confidence in our updated financial targets and that 2026 will be yet another all-time-high result."
ABB's full-year orders of $36.77 billion, revenue of $33.22 billion and operating earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation margin of 19% were all record annual results for the company.
It proposed a dividend of 0.94 Swiss francs per share, up from 0.90 francs a year earlier, and a new share buyback of up to $2 billion.
The latest buyback would replace the $1.3 billion scheme, which was launched in February last year and has now been completed after repurchasing roughly 1.11% of ABB's shares.
For 2026, ABB said it was aiming for comparable revenue growth of 6-9% and a further improvement in its operating EBITA margin.
Also on Thursday, ABB said it would be investing 80 million Swiss francs ($104.51 million) in a new headquarters building in Zurich, due to open in 2031.
($1 = 0.7655 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill, editing by Ariane Luthi, Friederike Heine and Tomasz Janowski)
