Engineered equipment maker Chart Industries Inc said its energy and chemicals business won a $22 million contract in the Middle East, one of its biggest deals in that division for three years, helping drive up its shares by almost a fifth.
The company, whose products are used in the production, storage and end-use of hydrocarbon and industrial gases, said the global market was improving across its businesses and it saw opportunities from the push for green and low cost energy.
Chart Industries, which raised its 2010 outlook, said the Middle East order was for a liquid natural gas project, and would contribute to its fourth-quarter orderbook.
Sales in the energy and chemicals business fell 23 percent to $38 million in the third quarter. Orders for the third quarter rose 8 percent from the second quarter to $146.8 million, while its backlog was up 6 percent to $212.6 million.
The company’s biomedical unit’s sales rose 64 percent, boosted by last year’s acquisition of Covidien Plc’s oxygen therapy business. Distribution and storage sales rose 14 percent.
Cleveland-based Chart Industries, led by CEO Sam Thomas, sees full-year earnings, excluding items, of 75-85 cents a share, up from a prior outlook of 55-75 cents. For the third quarter, it earned 23 cents a share on sales of $139.2 million.
It raised the lower end of its prior revenue forecast by $10 million to $540-$555 million.
