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Graco 3Q profit falls 47 pct as revenue slides

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Fluid system maker Graco Inc. said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit fell by nearly half on lower sales.

The results were still better than Wall Street had forecast, though, and the company's shares climbed in after-hours trading.

For the three months that ended Sept. 30, the company earned $17.3 million, or 29 cents per share. That's down 47 percent from last year's profit of $32.8 million, or 54 cents per share.

Sales slumped 29 percent to $147.3 million from $207.2 million one year ago, but were steady compared with the second quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn 21 cents per share on revenue of $141.4 million.

Graco said profit margins of 53 percent were even with year-ago levels but improved from 49 percent in the second quarter and 47 percent in the first quarter. Favorable pricing, lower material costs and cost cuts were offset in part by lower production volume and increased pension cost.

Graco shares climbed $1.49, or 4.9 percent, to $31 in after-hours trading after closing earlier at $29.54.

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