By Olivia Bugault

Andritz AG said Wednesday that its third-quarter preliminary results were above market expectations as it posted a profit and only a slight decline in sales in the quarter.

The Austrian plant-engineering company said sales in 3Q edged down to roughly 1.67 billion euros ($1.97 billion) from EUR1.69 billion for the same period last year. Strong sales in the pulp-and-paper business cushioned the decline.

Net profit came in at around EUR50 million, compared with a net loss of EUR35 million a year earlier, it said.

The company said "in view of the favorable earnings development in the first three quarters and on the basis of the current order backlog, Andritz now expects for the full year 2020 approximately the same level of profitability (EBITA margin) excluding extraordinary effects." Last year, Andritz's Ebita margin excluding extraordinary effects was at 6.8%.

The company said, however, that if coronavirus cases continue to rise in the coming months, this could have negative effects on its business.

Final results for the third quarter will be published on Nov. 5.

Write to Olivia Bugault at olivia.bugault@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2020 07:22 ET (11:22 GMT)

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