ABB says data centre business booming, Q3 figures in line with forecasts

ZURICH, Oct 20 (Reuters) ABB is continuing to see a boom in spending on data centres used ​to power artificial intelligence, the engineering ‌group said on Tuesday, as it reported its latest earnings. The Swiss company said its operational earnings before interest, tax and amortisation jumped ‌24% ​to $2.03 billion in ⁠the three months to ⁠the end of September, slightly ahead of analyst forecasts for $2.0 billion. Revenue meanwhile rose 14% to $9.70 billion, slightly below ​forecasts of $9.74 billion in a company gathered consensus. ABB, which makes electrification and ⁠automation products used by ⁠factories, ships and ports, has ​been seeing strong demand for products like ​power distribution and cooling systems used ‌in data centres. A surge in spending on AI and data centres is propping up the global economy, helping it ⁠withstand the energy shock from the Middle East war, the IMF said last week, although ⁠it ‌said a reassessment of efficiency ⁠gains from adopting the technology ​