Vehicle parts manufacturer Eaton Corp. said Monday its third-quarter profit fell 39% but exceeded the company’s forecast.
Net income fell to $193 million, or $1.14 cents a share, from $315 million, or $1.87, a year earlier, Eaton said in a statement. Sales fell 26% to $3 billion.
Eaton said its third-quarter earnings both this year and last included charges related to acquisitions. Excluding those, profit fell 28% to $1.21 per share, compared with $1.95 in 2008.
The company had forecast in July that its net income in the third quarter would be between 80 cents and 90 cents per share, while operating income would be between 90 cents and $1 per share.
Chief Executive Officer Sandy Cutler said that sales showed a 4% increase in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, “reflecting equally the very early stages of recovery in our end markets and benefit from the strengthening of currencies against the dollar.”
Eaton forecast that its fourth-quarter operating income, excluding charges, would be between $1 and $1.10 per share.
For the full 2009 year, net income will be between $2.05 and $2.15 per share. Eaton said in July that its income for the year would be between $1.65 and $1.85 per share.
