Hello and welcome to the Deutsche Bank Deposit Seats Investor Conference, dbVic. I'm Zaf Aziz from the Deutsche Bank team. I'm pleased to announce that our next presentation will be from ABB Limited. Before I introduce our speaker, a few points to note. Please submit your questions in the questions box. Also, all of today's presentations will be recorded and can be accessed via the Deutsche Bank website, adr.db.com. At this point, I'm very pleased to welcome ABB Limited, which trades on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol ABBN and on OTC under the symbol ABBNY.
Hello to you all, and thanks for taking the time to spend it with ABB today. I know we all have busy schedules, so much appreciated that you choose to spend it with us. We'll go through what's happened at ABB over the past five years and where it's taken us so far, and hopefully where it will go, because it's been a very exciting and eventful five years at ABB with a huge change in basically how this large company with its about 110,000 employees is run and governed. An exciting journey, and we've seen these big changes pay off in our improved operational performance. Of course, we've also been helped by a good market situation given the exposure we have to good secular trends. I'm Ann-Sofie Nordh, and I'm heading the EU Investor Relations team here at ABB since close to five years now.
In my prior life, I had a similar position at the Swedish cap goods company Sandvik, and prior to that, I was active on the sell side as an analyst. Enough about me. We talk about ABB now. One thing we did when we started this transformation journey in 2020 was to sort of sit down and think about who is ABB? Why do we come to work in the mornings? We formed the company Purpose, which has been very helpful, I have to say, internally, but also externally. For example, it has been a tool for portfolio management, and we have sort of consolidated our businesses according to the purpose, which is that we want to enable a more sustainable and resource-efficient future with our technology leadership in electrification and automation. Really helpful.
I would say today we are about 75% in terms of our demand driven by electrification and about 25% of automation. Also on the back of this purpose, we have divested three full divisions, not because they were bad businesses, not at all. Two of them were actually some of the top performers in the group, but they did not meet the purpose, and we want to have a high say-to ratio, sort of put the money where our mouth is. The ABB exposure is fairly evenly spread across both geographies and segments, I would say. We have about one-third of our revenues generated in each of the Americas, Europe, and Asia, Middle East and Africa. The 1/3 rule of thumb is also valid when it comes to how we go to market, split between direct sales and customers, and then also OEMs, EPCs, and panel builders, etc.
We have a very broad industrial segment exposure, and no segment actually represents more than 20% of our revenues. If we add things up for the group, we generated $32.8 billion in revenues last year. We reached an operational EBITDA margin of 18.1%, which is actually a new record high for ABB. This is the sum of the currently four business areas we have, where electrification is the largest piece, representing sort of close to 50%. Then we have motion and process automation at about 20% each, and the smallest of our business areas is robotics and discrete automation at a combined 10%. Some of you may or may have not heard or noticed that we actually recently announced that we intend to spin off part of our robotics and discrete automation business area, namely the robotics business, as a separately listed company.
We start these preparations now, and we'll work towards a proposal for the AGM in 2026. If all goes to plan, we then will distribute this business to shareholders as a dividend in kind, meaning that shareholders in ABB will receive shares in this pure-play robotics company in proportion to their existing holding. We plan for the robotics company to start trading during the second quarter of 2026, but we have not yet decided, I should say, where the listing will take place. We're looking at multiple alternatives, including like Sweden and Switzerland, of course, given the legacy the company has there. Why are we doing this? The prerequisite is, of course, that we think that it will benefit value creation in both companies. Robotics is actually a strong performer in its industry.
We believe this will become more transparent when it's a standalone company, and we think that investors will reward it for it, being a pure-play robotics company. You see in the chart to the left that robotics represents only 7% of the ABB group revenues and 5% of earnings. I should also mention, of course, that these are pre-carve-out estimates, and some balance sheet numbers may change for the standalone unit. Also, part of this decision is that the robotics performance profile is different versus the larger three business areas we have. We believe the robotics business will benefit from being evaluated, like I said, on its own merits instead of competing over sort of capital allocation within the larger group of ABB. It is a strong contender in its industry, but there are actually limited synergies with the other three business areas.
We think this is an exciting opportunity for the business, and we think it will benefit from it. Now, looking at ABB and sort of what I hope some of the takeaways you will have from this session is that we are a technology leader that supports our number one or number two market position in most of the areas where we play. That is also what we have as an ambition for each of our business. We are a very different company now versus history. We have more of a performance-driven culture, and that sort of stems from what we now have, a decentralized setup. Since 2020, like I mentioned, we have completely changed the operating model in ABB and moved to this decentralized setup where all operating decisions are now taken closer to the customers. There is still a change ongoing with regards to this.
We're now sort of hitting the final stretch of this, pushing it down one level further even in the organization. In our minds, that will further support operational performance in the future for this company. I would also want to highlight sort of that we feel in our way we play in strong markets. We are positioned at the core of the energy transition towards electricity as a key energy source. We have a strong balance sheet. We reward our shareholders with a sort of steady increasing dividend, and we also run a share buyback program, which we increased this year from last year. I mentioned that we have a number one or two position in the market. This is valid for all our business areas. This is actually an important part of our operating model, which we call ABB Way.
We want each of our businesses to have this or be able to get there in the future. This gives you scale and pricing power in our view. If we do the very sort of short version, or we could be here all night, of the offering of our four business areas, I would say that electrification, it is a leading portfolio of electrification products, solutions, and services. We do play in for both medium and low voltage electricity distribution. We are not active in generation or in the transmission grid. One can say sort of that we are in the last mile of power distribution in residential or urban areas with a very broad range sort of from simple power switches and sockets to complex medium and low voltage switchgear.
Our motion business is where we have the most comprehensive portfolio of electrical speed drives, electrical motors, both for low and medium voltage, generators, and motion control linked to the digital powertrain solutions that we have in the motion business area. Process automation is more of our sort of project business. It supplies integrated automation, electrical, digital solutions for process industries, hybrid, and particularly marine industries is an important segment in this area. DCS system is here, I would say, a core anchor product in process automation. Finally, the robotics and discrete automation, where we have the robotics business, which we just touched upon, where we have, of course, robots, control platforms, but also AMRs, Cobots. It is a very broad spectrum that they cover within this industry. The other division here is machine automation.
They supply automation controls, PLCs, to machine builders for discrete automation or discrete manufacturing. They provide flexible solutions linked to the individual machines across the whole lines. I will just now run a short video on ABB, which I hope you will enjoy.
Industries are the beating heart of our world. They move us, supply us, shelter us, power us, connect us. They improve our homes, our cities, our environments. Behind them all is ABB, electrifying, automating, partnering with our customers to keep them not just running consistently, but running more productively and more efficiently, to constantly outperform. At ABB, we call this outrun, and it is how we help industries become leaner and cleaner. ABB, engineered to outrun.
I hope you sort of got the message that ABB is built on its engineering and software skills. Last year, we invested $1.5 billion in R&D. Not that many companies can actually spend that amount of money every year on R&D. This is actually also up 40% since pre-COVID levels-ish, and it's in line with our ambition to spend about 4.5%-5% on R&D of revenues each year. On top of the traditional R&D activities that we do, we also invest in startups through our venture capital investments. Each business area takes stakes in young companies, startups, and this is to get sort of insight into new technologies in a fast way.
If it turns out to be a good thing, yes, we can invest further and potentially incorporate the company and technology in ABB, and there we can leverage, of course, it on our portfolio and in our channels. One good example of this is the AI visual technology company called Sevens ense that our robotics team acquired a couple of years ago. It is now incorporated in our AMRs, i.e., autonomous mobile robot business, and a great contribution of technology, which we could commercialize much faster than if we had done it ourselves. I'll see if I can flip this slide here. There we go. It is also a good example of how we create customer value by embedding software in our products.
More than 50% of our R&D employees are actually focused on digital solutions, and about 60% of our orders are related to digitally sort of enabled products and services. One can split the market in different phases: design, build, and operate, and we primarily play in the operate phase. The embedded software is here a value creator for us as we help our customers become more energy efficient and productive. I mentioned earlier that ABB is a very different company now from a few years back. We moved away from the centralized matrix-driven company to now being decentralized with the decisions taken close to customers in our divisions. We have about 20 divisions, which each is accountable for their own P&L, meaning operating decisions, this is where it happens, by those who know our technology and talk to our customers, not on the fifth floor or corner office.
Additionally, it also means that we have reduced the layers required to make decisions, meaning speed has been increased. We're much faster to act now than compared to the previous setup. Our CEO since August last year, Morten, who previously headed two of the two largest business areas, electrification and motion. He has now initiated the final stretch of implementing the ABB Way operating model, and we're now pushing it one level down to our business lines, i.e., below the divisions. In theory, this will then even further increase accountability, transparency, and speed in ABB. It's up for us to prove absolutely that we believe this will be supportive for operational performance going forward. Also, part of how we run the company is the setup of local for local footprint. For the majority, we produce in the regional country where we sell.
In the U.S., for example, we have local production now of about 75% to 80%. In China, we have reached 85%, and Europe as much as 95%. There is virtually nothing being shipped from China to the U.S., so Europe is sort of the net exporter in terms of regions. Key in the operating model is that we govern the divisions through strategic mandates, and they are stability and profitability before growth, meaning each division has one of these mandates, and you only get growth if you have or when profitability is at least in line with sort of best in class or peers or actually where we think it should be. Remuneration is linked to these mandates with different weightings for the various KPIs to drive the performance optimally within the group. Since 2020, we started to implement the ABB Way operating model.
The proportion of revenues, which has a growth mandate, has increased to now about 70% from the previous 50%. There is a higher focus on the growth side after the strong performance improvement we have achieved. That said, I probably should mention that these mandates are not fixed, meaning you can actually go backwards to allow sort of for material changes in the market, etc. In this decentralized setup, our leaders are given the trust to run their business. They're accountable for results, and what we ask for in return is transparency. We get this through the scorecard system, which we introduced earlier on in 2020. This is a really transparent way of a good overview on a fast, in each month, the same overview for each businesses, which then consolidates up to group performance.
Each business is accountable for performance, including, of course, growth, organic and acquired, and adding the pieces together, you should expect ABB Group to deliver about 5%-7% organic growth through the cycle. We hope to add 1%-2% growth through acquisitions. We have not actually achieved the acquired growth yet. Sort of natural becomes this last in line when it comes to the strategic mandates and how we perform. Given that we have 70% in growth now, we hope this clearly gets higher focus internally, and we hope we're convinced that we will get there. We have increased the number, the pace of deals, although they have been small, but we hope to get there, and it's a clear focus point from us. In our view, we have a good market position. We're exposed to markets with strong secular trends.
Electrification and automation, I mentioned. Our technology helps industrial customers become more productive and efficient. By transitioning to electricity as the key energy source and making the electricity consumption efficient, we also help our customers become not only more productive, but also more sustainable. Therefore, I think given the exposures that we have, electricity is clearly a key focus point for us, 75%-ish of demand as a demand driver. We think that this will continue to be a strong trend for us. The experts or the expectations of electricity demand are expected to grow about nine times faster than any other or the total energy demand. Investments in the grid are needed to satisfy this demand. It is quite interesting, and this is linked to our motion business, that about 45% of the world's electricity is converted to motion by electric motors.
The next time you get on an electrical train or the next time you visit a manufacturing site where you see machines turn, you can think about ABB. We still use these electrical motors in quite an inefficient way. Only about 23% of the installed base is optimized through the control of drive. There is a huge potential here based on the energy efficiency argument to support our demand going forward. We believe our technology is well positioned to support long-term growth. Yes, we are a cyclical company, and cycles come and go, but we're confident to deliver on our through-the-cycle growth ambitions. We're, of course, also very proud of the margin improvement we have achieved over the past years. We've taken the operational EBITDA margin from about 11%-ish to the 18.1% I mentioned earlier.
We still have some way to go for us to meet the higher demand. Oh, sorry, to meet the higher range of our margin. We do not see this higher range as a sort of end station at all. We see that we can do better, but we want to achieve our target that we have set out there before we take the next step. It is very good to see that, I have to say, that the margin improvement has been supported by the more than 500 basis points in gross margin improvement. I think that is a quality sign that we have not actually squeezed the lemon and saved ourselves, that this is an operational improvement. We also are proud about our capital efficiency and our ROTI, which we now delivered at 22.9%, well above our target of 18%. Also, if we look at our operational ROTI, we are actually at about 50%.
Clearly, it makes sense for us to continue to invest in this company. We're equally proud of making progress towards our sustainability targets. These are set under our three pillars of enabling low-carbon society, preserving resources, and promoting social progress. I want to mention that our sustainability agenda is fully integrated in the ABB Way operating model, meaning it's part of the division's accountability and how we make the business. Just to finish off, capital allocation principles, we talked about R&D already. That's obviously key and our first priority. After that, we support our dividend policy that is important to us, and then we want to spend more on M&A. We have a strong balance sheet. We want to find more. We want to become more active. Should we not spend sufficiently on M&A, we will utilize our share buyback program. That's it from me.
I think we will leave it there and open up for questions. See if I can work this. I see here, are you providing guidance for 2025? Yes, we are. We have said that we want to achieve about sort of 5% comparable revenue growth, sort of mid-single-digit range-ish, and we want to improve our operational EBITDA margin from 2024. We are aiming for a new record high. We have time for, I think, a couple of more. There is one question here regarding tariffs. What is the U.S. tariff impact on ABB? Does your local footprint minimize impact? I would say yes. We are very happy about this setup right now. It is not that it has changed because of tariffs. It is a legacy that we have, but it certainly suits the purpose really well now. I would say in relative terms, we are in a good position when it comes to the tariffs.
We also, of course, have some production in Mexico within the trading zone. So depending on what happens there, we'll see how it goes. But we feel, when we look at it and we do the calculations, we feel that we're in a good position. And just like last time, I mean, we intend to push tariffs onto customers. This is the message from us. It's the message from our peers, and that's certainly our intention, and we have acted accordingly to do so. There is admittedly high uncertainty on where it will land, so we're careful to balance sort of the market position versus profitability priorities. But certainly, we feel we're in a relatively good position when it comes to tariffs. Let's see here. We'll scroll down, see if there is with regards to the robotic spin. Will current ABB ADR holders receive ADRs in the spinoff?
The details on this are still a work in progress, so we will come back to this when we have this set and can confirm whether it will be ADRs or a different alternative. With that, I will say thank you very much again for spending the time with us. Much appreciated, and I wish you a good day and a good evening depending on where you are. Thank you very much.