ABB lowers sales guidance as supply bottlenecks bite By Reuters

ZURICH (Reuters) -ABB lowered its full-year sales outlook on Thursday, as the Swiss engineering and technology group became the latest company to flag shortages of key components limiting its ability to supply customers.

The maker of industrial robots and charging stations for electric cars said it now expects its full-year sales to increase by 6% to 8%, down from its previous view for an increase of just below 10%.

ABB said it was hit by a bottlenecks in the third quarter and expected shortages to continue for the rest of the year.

“In the fourth quarter of 2021, ABB anticipates a continued tight supply chain to impact customer deliveries,” ABB said as it reported its third-quarter earnings.

Companies including Canadian auto parts maker Magna and Sweden’s Ericsson (BS:) have been hit by tight supply chains, as suppliers have made stuttering restarts to production following the pandemic shutdown.

Chip scarcity has also hampered automobile production around the world, bringing some assembly lines to a halt.

ABB Chief Executive Bjorn Rosengren highlighted a “difficult supply chain environment” as ABB reported orders rising at a much faster rate than revenues during its third quarter.

On a comparable basis, which cuts out the impact of currency movements and divestments, ABB’s revenue increased by 4% to $7.03 billion, missing forecasts for $7.3 billion.

Operational earnings before interest, tax and amortisation rose 32% to $1.06 billion, the Zurich company said, in line with forecasts.