Investor: at ABB, 20% of its total assets, EBITA rises 24% while Rotork and Robotics hold back net income

In the third quarter of 2026, ABB's Operational EBITA, its adjusted operating profit, rose 24% to $2,026m, while its net income attributable to ABB fell 2% to $1,181m, held back mainly, according to ABB, by two transactions, the acquisition of Rotork and the sale of Robotics to SoftBank. ABB is Investor's largest holding, 20% of its total assets at 30 September 2026. Each of the two transactions exceeds $5bn, with completion expected by mid-2027.

Why it matters for Investor shareholders: at 30 September 2026, Investor held 265,385,142 ABB shares (p. 4). In the third quarter, this holding took SEK 26.2bn off Investor, a total return of −9.4%, after a gain of SEK 72.8bn over nine months, quarter included (p. 6), and our brief of 16 October noted that this decline, with three others, absorbed most of the gains at Saab, SEB, Nasdaq and Atlas Copco. Investor's accounts record a listed company in two lines, dividends and changes in value (p. 26): ABB's net income does not enter them as such. For Investor shareholders, ABB's quarter counts through the value of the holding and through the dividend, and the two transactions of more than $5bn could bear on both.

ABB's income statement makes it possible to write out the year-on-year gap (financial information for the quarter, p. 8). Income from operations rises by $244m, to $1,846m. Finance net takes away $150m, including a $115m unrealised loss, non-cash according to ABB, on a deal-contingent foreign exchange hedge linked to the Rotork acquisition, that is, a contract that only applies if the transaction goes ahead, for around £4.2bn (financial information, p. 17, press release, p. 4). Non-operational pensions take away $47m. Discontinued operations, mainly Robotics, swing from a $37m gain to a $43m loss, i.e. −$80m, owing to a $96m tax charge against $19m a year earlier (p. 14), which ABB links to setting up the legal structure ahead of the sale (press release, p. 4). Tax on continuing operations and non-controlling interests give back $6m. The figures reconcile: 1,208 + 244 − 150 − 47 − 80 + 6 = $1,181m, i.e. −$27m (Opulion calculation).

ABB agreed in October 2025 to sell Robotics to SoftBank Group, another holding company covered by Opulion, at a valuation of approximately $5.4bn, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 (financial information, p. 14) and an expected gain of $2.4bn (press release, p. 11). On 16 July 2026 it announced an agreement to acquire Rotork for 503 pence per share in cash, around £4.2bn (financial information, p. 16), a deal Investor puts at $5.5bn (p. 3), with closing expected in the first half of 2027 (press release, p. 10). The two amounts are of the same order of magnitude, as a reference point only: one is a business valuation set in October 2025, the other an offer price in sterling whose dollar equivalent follows the exchange rate. Linking the two transactions remains an Opulion hypothesis: neither the press release nor the quarter's financial information states the use of the sale proceeds, while ABB's net debt has fallen to $1,332m at 30 September, from $2,320m at 30 June (press release, p. 5). On the paying side, our analysis of 4 September showed SoftBank borrowing ¥1 trillion partly to buy Robotics.

For Investor shareholders, three proofs will come in order. The closing of the Robotics sale, expected in the fourth quarter, will show the amount received and book the gain. On 22 January 2027, Investor's year-end report for 2026 will revalue the ABB holding (p. 22). On 28 January 2027, ABB's full-year results (press release, p. 12) should state the dividend proposed to the general meeting, the part of ABB's profit that reaches Investor's cash, and could state the use of the Robotics proceeds.