STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The sale of Rental Service Corp. is expected to be finalized during the third quarter, Gunnar Brock, president and CEO of parent company Atlas Copco said last month while commenting on the company's strong third-quarter results.

Meanwhile, the Stockholm, Sweden-based company reported record results in the second quarter. The order intake increased 19 percent year over year, rising from about U.S. $1.89 billion in last year's third quarter to about U.S. $2.26 billion this year, including discontinued operations. Revenues in the quarter rose 18 percent to U.S. $2.11 billion.

“All business areas improved sales, profits and margins,” said Brock. “The demand has been favorable and we believe that it will remain on the current high level for most customer segments during the coming months.”

Operating profit rose 41 percent during the quarter to about U.S. $433.2 million, a 20.5 percent margin, up from a 17.2 percent margin in Q205. Profit before tax for continuing operations increased 38 percent, including RSC Rentals.

Atlas Copco recently acquired U.S.-based BeaconMedaes, a provider of medical air systems and ABAC, an Italian manufacturer of piston compressors. The group also recently opened two new factories in China, one for compressors and one for drill rigs and is about to make significant investments in its manufacturing facilities for hydraulic breakers and compressors in Kalmar, Sweden, and Essen, Germany.

“The demand for rig-mounted hydraulic breakers has increased during the last years and to be able to meet the need we have decided to expand our production facilities,” said Bjorn Rosengren, business area president for Construction and Mining Technique. “Three years ago, we restructured our breaker production, concentrating the manufacturing of small breakers to Sweden, and medium and heavy breakers to Germany. This split has given us the opportunity to develop further both products and capacity utilization.”