Wabtec increases earnings guidance for 2011

Wabtec Corp. said Monday that that it has increased its 2011 earnings per diluted share guidance to between $3.15 and $3.25, based on full-year revenue growth of about 15%. This compares with earlier guidance of $2.90 per share and 10% revenue growth.

The company also said it expects 2011 first-quarter earnings per share to be between 77 and 82 cents.

Albert J. Neupaver, Wabtec’s president and chief executive officer, said: “Our financial performance in the first quarter and for the year will exceedour initial expectations due to several factors: The strength of the U.S. freight rail market, especially demand for new freight cars; recent contract bookings for significant projects and others we expect to announce soon; ongoing progress in implementing our growth strategies; and the benefits of continuous improvement initiatives through the Wabtec Performance System.”

He noted that he company recently won a $165 million contract to implement a train control project in Brazil and a $27 million contract to provide train control equipment in the U.S. He said Wabtec expects its multi-year backlog to be at record levels at the end of the first quarter.