(Reuters) - French electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric on Thursday reported better-than-expected growth in its third-quarter revenue, leading it to raise its full-year growth outlook for the second time this year.
The company's revenue for the July-September period rose 7.2 percent organically to 6.38 billion euros ($7.28 billion), helped by growth in its divisions with continued good performance of residential markets, particularly in Asia, and data centers.
Analysts polled by the company expected on average a 5.5-percent organic growth in third-quarter revenue at 6.30 billion euros.
"Both our core businesses of Energy Management and Industrial Automation deliver... The growth in Q3 is partly attributed to the acceleration of business conducted with end-users in mid- to long-cycle industries, resulting in higher systems growth," Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman and chief executive of the company, said in a statement.
As a result, the group now sees full-year adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) growing between 8 percent and 9 percent, compared with 7 percent and 9 percent expected earlier, on sales growing close to the upper end of the 5 percent to 6 percent range.
However, the upgraded outlook still implies a slower growth in the rest of 2018, compared with the first half of the year.
Schneider also kept its adjusted EBITA margin improvement expectation unchanged from July, seen up 30 to 50 basis points, due to investments needed to drive long-term top-line growth and increase in costs due to currently anticipated U.S. tariffs impacts.
($1 = 0.8766 euros)
(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski in Gdynia; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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