Geneva  - Swiss engineering firm Sulzer reported Monday a 155.6 million Swiss francs (146.5 million dollars) profit in the first of half of 2009, a drop of 1.6 per cent from the same period last year, largely beating analysts' expectations.

Sales stood at 1.72 billion francs, which - if adjusted for currency fluctuations - was a 0.4 increase from 2008.

All regions where the company works were affected by the global economic downturn, Sulzer said, noting that China and Brazil "remained somewhat stronger by comparison."

The group, which primarily makes pumps for the oil industry and surfacing for jet planes, said it expected full year results for 2009 to be significantly below the previous year's profits.

"For the full year, Sulzer expects a substantially lower order intake and also decreases in sales, operating income and return on sales compared to the extraordinary high levels of 2008," the company said in a statement. (dpa)