Honeywell sees strong revenue in MidEast, China and India

 

 

US-based firm Honeywell International expects strongest revenue growth in the Middle East, China and India, but remains conservative about its forecast for the European and United States markets this year, its chief executive has revealed.

 

Speaking on Tuesday at the Reuters Manufacturing Summit in Chicago, Illinois, Honeywell International Inc chairman and CEO Dave Cote said the company generated about half of its $34.6 billion (Dh127 billion) revenue last year outside the US.

 

Without providing further details, Cote told Reuters that Honeywell will continue to grow its foreign sales as a proportion of the corporate total.

 

“What we try to do is say, ‘Let’s plan both the US and Europe on the conservative side, and let’s assume when it comes to India, China and the Middle East that that continues to do as well as it has in the past because there’s enough momentum,” he said.

 

He also expressed his confidence in the Middle East market because of its apparent resilience to the global financial downturn.

 

“If you’re in India, there’s talk about what will be the impact of the US [economy] there. If you’re in China, there’s some talk about inflation, bank tightening and what can happen there. The Middle East just keeps spending,” he said.  

 

But despite economic concerns, Cote said the effect on foreign markets does not really show up in any of the metrics.

 

“When you figure that two-thirds of the world’s economy is outside the US and we’re at 50 per cent, [it means] there’s room for us to grow,” he added.

 

Honeywell International, which was established following a merger between AlliedSignal and Honeywell Inc in 1999, manufactures products and develops technologies for various industries such as aerospace, automation and control solutions, specialty materials, and transportation systems.

 

It is also eyeing the acquisition of a few companies this year after abandoning that strategy in 2007 due to high prices. Cote told Reuters that he expects the deals to be “under a billion dollars”. While he did not specify which companies will likely be acquired by Honeywell International, he said he sees most of the opportunities in the aerospace and automated control systems sectors.