It's been a busy past few weeks, as we were preparing for our Fluid Power Conference & Expo (FPCE), here in Cleveland. We just wrapped it up yesterday and it was a great event. The technical sessions were all well-attended and offered high-quality fluid power education. I'm already looking forward to planning next year's event and hearing more great experts in the field!
Between the Conference and being sick all week, I've missed blogging so wanted to get back into it with a few little tidbits. I was not surprised once again to see that Eaton Corp. achieved record earnings once again, with record net income per share of $1.07 for the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 37% over the $0.78 earned in the third quarter of 2010. Sales in the third quarter were $4.12 billion, 15% above the third quarter of 2010. Net income in the third quarter was $365 million compared to $268 million in 2010.
Eaton's official press release stated that its hydraulics segment sales were $717 million, up 23% compared to the third quarter of 2010. Global hydraulics markets were up 14% in the quarter, with U.S. markets up 18% and non-U.S. markets up 11%. Operating profits in the third quarter were $109 million. Excluding acquisition integration costs of $1 million during the quarter, operating profits were $110 million, up 45% over the third quarter of 2010.
“Global hydraulics markets in the third quarter continued the strong rebound we saw in the first half, although we did see weakness in the Chinese construction equipment markets,” said Cutler. “Our bookings, adjusted for foreign exchange, increased 20% in the third quarter. For all of 2011, we believe global hydraulics markets will grow 17%, 1% lower than we had expected in July."
Record earnings are being consistently reported from fluid power manufacturers both large and small. The businesses I talked to at the FPCE agreed that business was going very well and that they, their suppliers, and their customers, all had a positive outlook on the fluid power market.
