ZURICH (Reuters) -ABB reported better than expected profit at the start of the year and forecast faster revenue growth in the coming months, the Swiss engineering company said on Thursday,

The maker of factory robots, ship motors and industrial drives reported operational core profit (EBITA) for the three months to the end of March rising 11% to $1.42 billion, beating analyst forecasts for $1.36 billion.

Revenue increased by 2% on a comparable basis to $7.87 billion, missing forecasts for $8.13 billion.

Still, ABB said it was anticipating faster growth in the second quarter, saying it expects a mid-single growth rate in comparable revenues, which cuts out the effect of currency movements and changes in the company's portfolio.

For the full year ABB, which also makes chargers for electric vehicles, said it expected revenue growth to be around 5%, the same level targeted at the start of the year.

The Swiss company also gave more clarity on its profitability, saying it expected its EBITA margin to be around 18%, an upgrade from the previous outlook for a slight improvement from the 2023 level of 16.9%.

"Against high comparables, our Q1 performance shows the year has started off well with stronger than expected order momentum, record-high margin and strong cash delivery," said Chief Executive Bjorn Rosengren.

"This makes us confident to nudge up our margin expectation for 2024."