Geneva - Schindler, the Swiss maker of elevators and escalators, reported Tuesday a better than expected profit of 505 million Swiss francs (495.5 million dollars) for the first nine months of the year, but warned that a decline in orders received would impact on earnings in the coming quarters.

New orders fell in particular in Spain, the United States, Britain, Australia and parts of Eastern European.

Consolidated orders received totaled 9.21 billion francs, a drop of 16.6 per cent year-on-year, while consolidated operating revenue fell 11.4 per cent and reached 9.06 billion.

"The decline in orders received in the new installations business in the first nine months of 2009 will begin to affect results in the fourth quarter of 2009 and will continue to have an impact in 2010," the group said, looking ahead.

Schindler said it was able to boost profits through an "excellent order backlog at the start of 2009" and its cost cutting measures, including adapting capacity.

"Further restructuring projects are currently being implemented to prepare the core business for lower volumes in the area of new installations," Schindler warned.

The group expected a net profit of slightly over 600 million francs for the full year, after the deduction of restructuring costs.

Analysts were generally pleased with the results and the group's stock edged higher 2.18 per cent by early afternoon on the Zurich exchange, and was trading at 72.65 francs. (dpa)