ABB chief executive Mr Juergen Dormann told a Swiss newspaper that the embattled engineering group was not threatened with bankruptcy and that it did not intend to raise fresh capital for the time being.
Asked if ABB could be driven into bankrputcy amid a wave of asbestos-exposure lawsuits, he said: "That could happen to our Combustion Engineering unit, but not for the group because the claims against the holding company or other parts of the group will lead nowhere."
The interview was published today, a day after ABB shares plummeted 62 per cent on concern about its earnings prospects and its exposure to costly liability lawsuits from former workers exposed to asbestos. Mr Dormann said ABB was trying to limit the damage it could incur from asbestos suits and said it had learned a lot from a recent settlement of cases in West Virginia. But he added suits against Combustion Engineering "could develop quickly".
Asked whether ABB would need to cut its capital or make a fresh share issue, he said: "No. This is not imminent. Our core activities are good."
On Monday evening, ABB said it would not reach its earnings target in 2002 because a hoped-for recovery in its markets for power and automation technology products did not take place in September and the effects of a cost reduction programme were taking longer than planned.
ABB had been aiming for an operating margin of between four and five percent in 2002, but it now expects no recovery until the third quarter of next year.