ABB sees double-digit U.S. sales growth

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Swiss engineering firm ABB (ABBN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects double-digit U.S. sales growth over the next few years, supported by a steady stream of infrastructure investments by its customers, the chief executive of its U.S. region said on Tuesday.

"We have a strategic plan that goes through 2011 that has double-digit growth on the top line and even more on the bottom line for the next four, five or six years," ABB Inc USA CEO Enrique Santacana said at the Reuters Manufacturing Summit.

"We do not see any slowdown in this investment that is taking place related to the energy infrastructure in the United States and North America," he said.

ABB, which generates about $5.5 billion of its $29 billion annual revenue from North America, is well insulated from the current slowing of growth in the U.S. economy, he said.

"The real question is, are we going to go into a minor recession or a very severe recession, if we get into a mild recession scenario at all," Santacana said. "Even if we go into a mild recession, I don't see that affecting our company at all."

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Gary Hill)