ZURICH: Swiss pump maker Sulzer AG  bucked the gloomy industrial outlook around the world and lifted its full-year sales forecast on Wednesday, after reporting a jump in sales to the oil and gas sector.

Orders rose 8.7% to 1.93 billion Swiss francs ($1.96 billion) during the first half of the financial year, while sales rose 13% to 1.77 billion francs. Net profit for shareholders rose to 65.1 million francs from 57.9 million francs a year earlier.

"While Sulzer is not immune to the climate of economic uncertainty that percolates from some of the markets or geographies that the company is active in, it does not see at this point signs of a slowdown in its leading indicators," the company said.

Sulzer, whose pumps are also used in the water industry, said it now expects its orders for the full year to increase by 6% to 9%, up from its previous view of a 2% to 5% increase.

The company said it expected sales, when adjusted for currencies and acquisitions, to increase 7% to 9%, up from its previous range of 3% to 5%.

Chief Executive Officer Greg Poux-Guillaume told Reuters earlier this month that Sulzer had seen no slowdown in customer enquires for its products, which are used in the oil and gas, water purification and power generation industries.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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