DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Pall Corp.'s (PLL) fiscal fourth-quarter profit slid 0.6% as the company cut costs slightly more than sales fell, but the manufacturer's results topped Wall Street's expectations.

Chief Executive Eric Krasnoff noted that revenue was down from "a robust 2008" and he called the manufacturing landscape "generally depressed," particularly in the microelectronics sector.

Krasnoff said Pall expects the economy to remain weak in the first half of the new fiscal year, with a slow recovery in the second half.

The maker of filtration and water-purification products has been cutting costs, though it is insulated from the weak U.S. economy because it generates about two-thirds of its revenue outside the country.

For the quarter ended July 31, Pall reported a profit of $69.5 million, down from $69.9 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings in the latest quarter were 58 cents, compared with 57 a year earlier, because the number of outstanding shares shrank 2.2%.

Excluding restructuring and other items, earnings fell to 57 cents a share from 61 cents.

Revenue dropped 9.9%, to $652 million, while expenses declined 10%, to $183.5 million.

Analysts' estimates were for per-share earnings of 52 cents on revenue of $632 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Gross margin fell to 46.1% from 46.8%.

Sales grew 5.2% in the company's life sciences segment, but fell 8.8% in its industrial segment.

Pall's shares fell 1.1%, to $32.25 in after-hours trading. The stock has gained about three-quarters from a six-year low in March but is still down about 15% from a year ago.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com