Paccar 2Q profit rises on overseas sales

Paccar earned $313.5 million, or 86 cents per share, compared with $298.3 million, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales and financial services revenue rose 10.7 percent to $4.11 billion from $3.72 billion in the year-ago period.

The results beat average analysts' estimates. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 84 cents per share on $3.72 billion in revenue.

European revenue jumped 31 percent to $1.95 billion and other international revenue rose 5.2 percent to $892.5 million, while U.S. revenue dropped 8.3 percent to $1.27 billion.

Paccar officials said the European economy is still posting moderate growth, especially in Central Europe.

The company blamed the drop in U.S. sales on a steep increase in diesel prices, along with the ongoing slumps in the U.S. residential construction and automotive industries.