The call forbetter orchestration between ABB’s divisions came as Spiesshofer gave anoptimistic – if steady-as-she-goes – assessment of the business of which he tookcommand from Joe Hogan last month.

Net profit rose10% to $835m in the third quarter, while revenues were up 8% to $10.5bn atthe Swiss-Swedish engineering giant.

Of ABB’s fivedivisions, Power Systems, under which much of its renewables activity islumped, felt the stiffest headwinds, as a shuffling of strategic prioritiesand broader economic uncertainties cut into the large orders – those worth morethan $15m – coming in.