Oct 17 (Reuters) - Swiss lift- and escalator maker

Schindler said on Thursday it was more confident of

securing increased orders in North America, as it reaffirmed its

full-year guidance of low single-digit revenue growth in local

currencies.

"We have accelerated our modernisation business and enhanced

our offering," CEO Silvio Napoli told a conference call, adding

that the future looked better than the past had been in some

markets, including the United States.

Schindler now expects revenue from its North America

modernisation business to grow by 5% to 10% this year, compared

to 0-5% previously.

"There is demand in the U.S. ... for even new equipment for

high quality new buildings," Napoli said in an interview with

Reuters. He added that demand in the region could be coming back

sooner than the company expected even two months ago.

Shares in the company were up around 4% by 1120 GMT.

Schindler said new installations fell globally, notably in

China, while growth continued in its modernisation and service

units, which focus on renovation and maintenance.

The only region where all three units grew was Asia Pacific,

excluding China.

The liftmaker is less exposed to China than its competitors,

generating about 15% of its revenue last year from the country.

Revenue of 2.79 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) in the

third quarter missed analysts' expectations of 2.84 billion in a

poll compiled by Vara Research. However, it grew 2.6% excluding

the foreign exchange effect.

Its quarterly order intake of 2.71 billion francs came in

above the consensus. Analysts expected an order intake of 2.67

billion francs.

Schindler said it intends to launch a share buyback

programme of up to 500 million francs, expected to start in

November 2024 and to run until November 2026 at the latest.

($1=0.8659 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski and Bernadette Hogg in Gdansk;

Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Janane Venkatraman and Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)