OREANDA-NEWS. May 04, 2009. ABB AS, the Estonian operation of the international technology group ABB, has reported unaudited sales of 2.57 billion kroons (EUR 164.2 mln) for 2008, marking a year-on-year rise of 52 percent, reported the Official website investinestonia.com.

The figure also represents the biggest annual sales for the time that ABB has been operating on the Estonian market, the company said.

Sales grew year on year in all areas of business, ABB noted. The strong growth was driven by the continued demand for products and technologies of ABB.

Orders increased by 28 percent in annual comparison, reaching 2.59 billion kroons.

Manufacture accounted for 71 percent of the sales of ABB, up by two percentage points from 2007. Export in turn accounted for 93 percent of output, growing likewise by two percentage points in annual comparison.

Exports soared 58 percent against 2007, totaling 1.76 billion kroons.

ABB employed 1,101 people at the end of 2008, an increase of 9 percent year on year.

Signs of the global economic and financial crisis became apparent in ABB's operations in the final quarter of 2008.

Bo Henriksson, manager for Baltics, predicted that 2009 will be a very difficult year, but the position of the company on this market is strong enough for it to survive the hard times.

The ABB group gives work to about 120,000 people in 100 countries.