By : Ahmed Helmy
US-headquartered technology and engineering giant Emerson releases 2021 third quarter financial performances, with net sales up to USD 4.7 billion, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year. The tech giant also recorded USD 1.1 billion operating cash flow, up 31 per cent while Free Cash Flow (FCF) rose by 32 per cent, amounting to USD 977 million.
Revenue for the third quarter is driven by strong commercial and residential markets, as well as sharp recovery in North American process automation markets. Sales in the Americas grew by 18 per cent, Europe by 13 per cent, and Asia, Middle East and Africa by 11 per cent. A 7 per cent growth is also recorded in China.
In automation, net sales increased by 14 per cent due to continued shift of businesses to automation and growing sustainability initiatives in life sciences, food and beverages sector, medical markets and biofuels industries.
Commercial and residential solutions also noted a remarkable double-digit increase in all regions. Europe recorded a 37 per cent increase, followed by the Americas with 29 per cent, Asia, Middle East and Africa by 25 per cent, and China by 15 per cent. These figures reflect strength in residential markets, as well as demand for professional tools and solutions.
Lal Karsanbhai, President and Chief Executive Officer, Emerson, said: “Despite a challenging operating environment – material costs, availability, logistics, and labor constraints all required diligent management – I am extremely proud of our operations team, which has worked tirelessly to limit the impact of these issues as the world reopens and demand rebounds across our customer base. The hard work of our global teams – combined with our reset cost structure and improving demand in longer-cycle markets – is allowing us to improve our outlook for the year.
It has also facilitated acceleration of investment in key technologies that are expected to drive further differentiation and increased relevance with our customers.”
In its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) for June, Emerson also reported goals of increasing the representation of women and US minorities at leadership level globally by 2030. Along with this, Emerson continues to enhance management process for ESG transparency and reporting.
The strong cash flow performance is also an indicator of an effective working capital management and gives the company more capital allocation in 2022.
