030401

~~~~~((#))014012000r-Engineering & Machinery

~~~~~((#))016001000f-Company News

ABB stock falls nine percent, German unit sees loss

ZURICH: Stock in electrical engineering group ABB fell as much as 10 percent on Monday after the head of its German subsidiary was reported as saying the unit expected to make a loss in 2003.

ABB officials were not immediately available for comnent on German newspaper reports -- in Handelsblatt and Frankfurter Allgemeine -- quoting ABB Germany Chairman Bernhard Jucker as saying restructuring costs would keep the Swiss-based group's biggest foreign unit in the red in 2003.

The entire group is aiming to post a profit this year after rebounding from a record loss of $787 million last year.

The stock touched a low of 3.06 Swiss francs before edging back up to 3.11, down 8.5 percent in a lower Swiss market.

The share has lost around a fifth of its value so far this year after dropping 75 percent in 2002.-Reuters