IN FOCUS

Hidrostal Ltd, the Newbury based Pump manufacturer, has appointed Steve Blakemore as Sales Director. Steve joins Hidrostal with more than 20 years of industry experience in business development, sales, marketing, and general management.

SKF opens on Wednesday, November 3, an Industrial Services Centre in Moscow, Russia, to widen its range of advanced services in Russia and other CIS (Commonwealth Independent States) countries. The Service Centre in Moscow will include bearing reconditioning and spindle service for machine tools.

The third edition of ISH North America held at the new Boston Convention and Exposition Center, October 14 – 16, 2004 exceeded expectations. Showcasing industry leading products and services in Kitchen & Bath, Plumbing, PVF, Heating and Air Conditioning, 537 exhibiting companies represented a total of 16 countries.

Pfeiffer Vacuum, a leading manufacturer of high quality vacuum pumps, vacuum gauges, mass spectrometers and complete vacuum systems, announces its results for the first 9 months of 2004.

Gardner Denver, Inc. announced that revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2004 were $182.6 million, a 63% increase compared to the third quarter of the previous year, primarily as a result of acquisitions. Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2004 was $8.7 million, a 64% increase compared to the same period last year.

Bell & Gossett^® has introduced new Valve Installation Kits that help improve HVAC system operating performance, as well as save time for engineers and installers in the field.

ABB announced that Michel Demaré, currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the European operations of Baxter International, will join ABB as CFO and member of the Group Executive Committee on February 1, 2005.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, today reported a steady improvement in orders and revenues, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) as well as cash flow from operations in the third quarter of 2004.

The Group’s inflow of orders amounted to SEK 5,872 million (5,761), an increase of 3 percent after adjustment for the effects of exchange rate movements. Net sales amounted to SEK 5,491 million (5,528), which adjusted for the effects of exchange rate movements is on a par with the previous year.

Roper Industries, Inc. reported record diluted earnings per share (DEPS) of $0.73 in the third quarter of 2004, as compared with $0.56 reported in the prior year period.