Ladish Co. said Wednesday that profit plummeted by nearly 90% in the second quarter as the company saw sales decline because of the downturn in the global aerospace industry.

The results "reflect the rapid decline in demand in virtually all of the markets we serve," Kerry L. Woody, Ladish president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Net income was $650,000, or 4 cents a share, down from $6.2 million, or 43 cents, a year ago. Three investment analysts surveyed by Bloomberg Finance had projected Ladish earnings would be 12 cents a share.

Sales fell by nearly 29%, to $84.69 million from $118.96 million.

Ladish makes forgings for jet engines and the aerospace and industrial markets.

Until recently, Ladish had about 850 employees in Cudahy.

Because of the downturn, the company laid off 75 hourly workers and 10 salaried employees in recent weeks, said Wayne E. Larsen, vice president of law and finance. The cuts followed other cost- cutting measures, including an early retirement program and a one- week unpaid furlough for everyone.

In the second quarter, sales dropped nearly 20% from the first quarter, as customers delayed orders and Ladish saw a "significant slowdown in the industrial portion of our business," Woody said.

For the rest of the year, Woody added, "we expect our markets to remain challenging as world aerospace market demands remain anemic and we work our way through the current recession."

Before earnings were announced Wednesday, Ladish shares closed down 37 cents at $11.10.

Ladish Co.

2nd quarter %

6/30 2009 2008 change

Sales $84.7 $119.0 -28.8

Net income 0.65 6.22 -89.5

EPS (diluted) 0.04 0.43 -90.7

6 months

Sales $190.4 $236.2 -19.4

Net income 1.85 12.2 -84.8

EPS (diluted) 0.12 0.84 -85.7

Figures in millions except for earnings per share. Percentages are based on unrounded sales and income figures.

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