WIESBADEN, Germany -- Linde has reported September third-quarter results below expectations and lowered its full-year earnings outlook as the global economic slowdown hit growth at its forklift businesses.

Economic growth in Western Europe has "lost impetus and Germany is on the verge of recession", a company report said.

Linde said industrial truck markets were regressive worldwide. While US demand continued to decrease and Asia "stagnated", Europe showed only modest growth. The forklift business was particularly affected, as "it is more vulnerable to market fluctuations".

Despite slowing sales, Linde's three industrial truck groups, Linde, Still and Fiat expanded their market shares. Worldwide sales rose 8.8 percent to 2.245 billion Euro (USD1.98 billion) and order intake rose by 3.5 percent to 2.354 billion Euro (USD2.08 billion). Orders on hand totalled 618 million Euro (USD545.32 million), a 4.3 percent increase on 2000.

Order intake and sales in hydraulics suffered from the previous year, due to "the flat economic situation", which had affected customers in construction and agricultural machinery, Linde said.