Waters Corp. earnings surge 34 percent

Waters Corp. of Milford said today that third-quarter earnings surged 34 percent as the analytical instrument maker benefited from a weaker US dollar and held down expenses.

For the quarter ended Sept. 27, earnings rose to $71.5 million, or 71 cents per share, from $53.3 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding some restructuring costs and other one-time charges, earnings per share totaled 79 cents, compared with 62 cents in the prior year.

Quarterly sales rose nearly 10 percent to $386.3 million, from $352.6 million in the third quarter of 2007. Waters said favorable foreign currency exchange added roughly 3 percent to sales growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items, forecast quarterly earnings of 74 cents per share on revenue of $390.9 million.

Waters' selling and administrative costs gained less than 2 percent to $107.5 million, while research and development expenses fell 9 percent to $19.9 million. (AP)