Rockwell Automation (ROK)

[Investorman]

Rockwell Automation Expects to Boost Asia Sales 30% on China

By Jasmine Wang - Aug 1, 2011


Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK), the largest standalone maker of industrial-automation systems in the U.S., expects to boost Asia-Pacific sales 30 percent this fiscal year helped by demand in China and acquisitions.

Regional sales in the quarter ending September will likely rise about 30 percent, matching the pace in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, Robert Ruff, the company’s Asia- Pacific president, said in an interview in Hong Kong yesterday. The region accounted for about 15 percent of the Milwaukee-based company’s sales last fiscal year.

Rockwell plans to continue expanding in China with “high velocity” and it’s considering acquisitions in Asia, Ruff said, as rising wages and economic growth spur demand for automation products. The company competes with the likes of Siemens AG (SIE) and ABB Ltd. (ABB) and supplies clients ranging from automakers to oil producers.

Rockwell has “a funnel of potential acquisitions across Asia,” Ruff said. He didn’t name any possible targets.

The company in 2009 completed the takeover of closely held Xi’An Hengsheng Science & Technology Co. The deal boosted access to Chinese utilities companies and expanded Rockwell’s pool of engineers with local expertise, Ruff said.

Rockwell has about 1,800 employees including engineers and sales representatives in the China, which accounts for about 50 percent of its business in the region, he said.