Zurich, Switzerland, February 16, 2012 - ABB Group announced that its profit margin has grown in the fourth quarter of 2011 due to strong sales growth and cost savings. In 2011, ABB Group's order volume reached US$40 billion for the first time, and sales reached a record of US$38 billion.

The operating profit before tax, depreciation and amortization is an indicator of the level of management's measurement of profit. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the index of ABB Group increased by 18% over the same period of last year to reach US$1.6 billion, with sales growth of 16% (organic growth of 10%). Thanks to the $330 million in cost savings and better project execution, the group's operating margin improved from 14.4% to 14.8%.

The cash flow from business operations in the fourth quarter increased to approximately $1.7 billion, close to the highest record of $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of the past two years.

Due to the growing demand for low-loss transmission systems in mature markets and emerging markets, the order volume in the fourth quarter increased by 17% (organic growth of 10%). At the same time, the demand for industrial customers to reduce operating costs and improve product quality through the use of highly efficient equipment is also increasing.

“We continued to maintain a good operating situation in the fourth quarter, especially in terms of cost savings and project execution, and we were able to achieve record sales in the ups and downs of the market. Steady revenues. We see that the demand for energy efficiency solutions remains high in the industrial sector, and the demand for expansion and upgrading of the power grid is equally strong. At the same time, we believe these trends will continue."

“At the same time, the uneven distribution of profits in the business portfolio and the pressure on order deposits caused by continued price competition may have a negative impact on the Group’s profit margin in the first quarter of 2012, but we remain optimistic about the rest of the year. We will continue to aggressively pursue business growth while at the same time making every effort to control costs."

Q4 2011 Results Overview Orders and Sales Received Due to the concern of industrial and power customers on energy saving, emission reduction, industrial productivity and power reliability, the demand for ABB products and solutions continues to grow, especially oil and gas Orders for petrochemicals, as well as electricity, have grown. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the increase in orders in the fourth quarter of 2011 mainly benefited from the large increase in orders (referring to orders over 15 million U.S. dollars), including India’s USD 900 million UHVDC transmission line project orders and Sweden 1.6 100 million US dollars underground HVDC project orders. Large-scale orders grew by 38%, accounting for 23% of total orders in the quarter, compared with only 20% in the same period of last year. Basic orders (referring to orders under $15 million) increased by 12% (organic growth 4%). The growth rate was basically the same as the third quarter of 2011.

Discrete automation and motion control business unit orders the largest increase in the amount of growth in local currency, a 49% increase, mainly due to the market's continuous and strong demand for high-efficiency motors of Ritek. Orders for the Discrete Automation and Motion Control business grew organically by 11%. The order volume of the Low-Voltage Products Business Division increased by 6%, which was mainly due to the increase in the demand for the use of low-voltage systems to increase the power consumption efficiency in the industrial sector. Rising commodity prices continue to prompt customers to invest in new production capacity and services to increase the productivity of existing equipment, which is particularly evident in the oil and gas industry. Affected by this, the amount of orders for the Process Automation Business Unit increased by 7%.

The power system business department performed outstanding orders and sales during the quarter, confirming that long-term trends in the construction of grid interconnection projects and enhancement of transmission infrastructure in both mature markets and emerging markets. The good demand in the power distribution and industrial sectors led to the growth of all business orders for the Power Products Business Unit.

From the perspective of regional markets, orders in Asia increased by 61%, of which large orders for electricity were obtained in India, and orders in both Australia and Singapore achieved strong growth, while growing in China by 6%. In the Americas region, both automation and power business orders increased, and the order volume increased by 41% (an organic increase of 11%). European orders fell by 8%, indicating that the economic growth in Europe has slowed down and the market environment has become more challenging. In the same period last year, ABB had received a total of US$580 million in HVDC transmission orders in Europe. Orders in the Middle East and Africa fell by 18%, mainly due to a decrease in large orders compared with the same period of the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, ABB Group's service business orders increased by 11% and grew by 15% for the full year.

As of the end of December, the group’s order storage reached US$27.5 billion, an increase of 9% in local currencies over the same period in the previous year and a 2% decrease from the third quarter.

Sales continued to grow, and all business units achieved growth, which mainly benefited from the implementation of storage orders. The sales increase organically by 10%. Service sales increased by 12%, accounting for 16% of the Group's total sales in the fourth quarter. In 2011, sales of service business increased by 10%, accounting for 16% of total sales.

The acquisition of ABB continues with the acquisition strategy and fills gaps in important aspects such as product mix, geographic coverage and end markets through complementary acquisitions. In the fourth quarter, ABB completed the acquisition of Swiss special transformer manufacturer Trasfor Group. In December, ABB also announced its intention to acquire Newave Energy International, a Swiss uninterruptible power supply manufacturer, for a total purchase of approximately US$170 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.

ABB made several other acquisitions in 2011, the largest of which was the acquisition of the United States industrial motor maker Junde Electric. The transaction was completed in January 2011 and totaled US$4.2 billion including debt repayments. Since the end of January 2011, the financial data of Ritek has been incorporated into ABB Group's financial reports, Ritek has contributed approximately US$2 billion in sales and approximately US$390 million in operating EBITDA to ABB.

Other ABB Group acquisitions in 2011 included the acquisition of Envitech, a supplier of electrical products for urban rail systems in Canada, the acquisition of Powercorp, an Australian renewable energy automation company, the acquisition of Lorentzen & Wettre, a Swedish manufacturer of pulp and paper control solutions, and the acquisition of New Zealand Electric Epyon, a supplier of automotive charging solutions, acquired Mincom, a supplier of asset management software for mining and other industries in Australia.

ABB Group announced in January 2012 that it will acquire Thomas & Betts, a low-voltage equipment maker in the United States, for US$3.9 billion in cash. It is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012 and is currently pending approval by shareholders of Thomas & Betts and related parties.

Prospects ABB's business development perspective remains optimistic. Power companies continue to invest in grid upgrades, and industrial companies have increased investment in automation solutions to improve energy efficiency and productivity.

Macroeconomic fluctuations increase the difficulty of short-term forecasting. The North American economy has shown signs of recovery and China has once again become the focus of growth, but the European government’s budget deficit problem remains highly uncertain.

In light of ABB’s short-term business development prospects, management expects that most of the company's short-cycle business will maintain single-digit growth before the market resumes its confidence in the macro economy. Consistent with the company's previous forecast, some of the power business will continue to face pressure from the price. The problem of unbalanced profitability of business portfolios faced by most business units in the fourth quarter of 2011 will continue into the first quarter of 2012 and will affect profitability, but this trend is not expected to continue until the next few months of 2012. Quarter. The company's management will continue to further control costs and increase production efficiency.

At the same time, ABB has strong orders for storage, customers continue to invest in transmission, oil and natural gas, ABB also entered the fast-growing emerging markets, these factors have provided sufficient opportunities for ABB to achieve profitable growth in 2012 . At the same time, ABB will continue to strengthen its sales capabilities and accelerate product development to fully capture market opportunities.