Honeywell tops automation sales

The US giant led the way with revenues of $4.6 billion in the final three months of last year, up 9.7% from Q4 2012. It was ahead of Siemens Industry Automation, which recorded sales of $2.99 billion, down 5.9% year-on-year, although orders were up 7% in the same period.

The figures, compiled by ARC Advisory Group in its latest ARC Insights report, also showed ABB Process Automation ($2.26bn), Emerson Process Management ($2.04bn) and Rockwell Automation ($1.59bn) completing the top five for sales in Q4 2013.

Invensys came in sixth place, although ARC was unable to provide like-for-like figures for the firm as it reported sales figures over a different period to its competitors.

A stronger second half of the year may point to similar gains in 2014

ARC Insights report

The firms that recorded the fastest growth in sales during the period were Aspentech, up 27.8% to $98.8 million from $77.3 million a year earlier, and Yokogawa, up 17.2% to $906.4 million in Q4 2013 from $773.6 million in Q4 2012. ARC’s report says that Japanese automation suppliers to both the process and discrete sectors had experienced solid growth thanks to a weak Yen.

Overall process industry suppliers saw their revenues grow by 4.8% on average in Q4 2013 compared to a year earlier, while orders grew by just over 4%.

This strong growth in the final quarter was an improvement on a sluggish start to 2013, and the ARC report concludes that “a stronger second half of the year may point to similar gains in 2014”.

It adds: “Reasonably strong order intake during the quarter assures future revenue streams for suppliers. The energy sector remains strong, particularly in North America.”

The report follows ARC’s assessment of capital expenditure in process sectors in December, which identified strong global spend in oil & gas, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, but predicted food & drink spend was likely to remain in a trough until 2015.

For more information on ARC’s report on automation suppliers, click here.