KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo, TX: newschannel10.comDover posts 43 percent drop in 3Q earnings

Dover posts 43 percent drop in 3Q earnings

NEW YORK (AP) - Dover Corp., which makes refrigeration products, pumps and all-wheel-drive powertrain systems, said Friday its third-quarter earnings fell 43 percent, hurt by continuing weak demand from the infrastructure, auto and energy markets.

Shares of tumbled after it said net income fell to $106.9 million, or 57 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, down from net income of $187.7 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier. Earnings from continuing operations sank nearly 44 percent, to $107.5 million, or 58 cents per share, from $190.3 million or $1.01 per share. On that basis, Dover beat Wall Street's profit estimate of 48 cents per share.

Revenue dropped 24 percent, to $1.5 billion.

But Dover's president and CEO, Robert A. Livingston, sounded a hopeful note. "The signs of stability we observed during the second quarter carried through to the third quarter across the majority of our businesses."

The New York company that said operating margins improved from the second quarter, and that order trends continue to be stable. Some of its businesses, particularly refrigeration, are beginning to see the effects of a normal seasonal slowdown, it said.

Dover said the markets, however, will continue to weigh on its results. The company still expects 2009 revenue will be 24 to 26 percent lower than last year, when it reported revenue of $7.57 billion. It now expects per-share earnings around the midpoint of $1.75 to $2 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect 2009 earnings of $1.83 per share on revenue of $5.67 billion.

Shares of Dover touched a new 52-high of $41.52in morning trading, but shares recently gave up some of those gains, falling $1.62, or 4 percent, to $38.92.

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