Said Praxair Chief Executive Steve Angel, "We are cautiously optimistic that growth in the U.S. and Europe will continue to improve, but we expect the climb to be slow and deliberate."
The company posted net income of $340 million, or $1.09 per share, compared with $200 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier.
The earnings were expected by analysts, because the prior year had a large charge for the cost of laying off 1,600 employees in the fourth quarter of 2008. Sales remained flat, however, growing only 0.2 percent to $2.41 billion.
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