Dresser-Rand 3Q profit more than doubles

HOUSTON - Industrial equipment maker and contractor Dresser-Rand Group Inc. said late Thursday its third-quarter earnings more than doubled as increased demand from the gas and oil sectors drove revenue higher.

Net income climbed to $46.8 million, or 57 cents per share, from $21.3 million, or 25 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected income of 54 cents per share.

Revenue rose 40 percent to $543.9 million from $389.3 million, with gains coming at the company's new equipment and aftermarket units. Analysts forecast $667 million in revenue.

Looking ahead, the company said it is hard to forecast the effects of the economic slowdown on its business.

"While it is difficult to predict how the recent financial turmoil and increased risk of a global economic slowdown will impact our business, we expect continued strong performance in the fourth quarter, 2009 and the longer-term," Chief Executive and President Vincent R. Volpe Jr. said in a statement.

The company backed its outlook for 2008 operating income of $300 million to $315 million.

Shares of Dresser-Rand fell $1.42, or 6.2 percent, to $21.50 in morning trading Friday. The stock has ranged from $17.05 to $42.49 over the past year.

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