Net sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 were $66.1 million compared to $71.1 million for the same period in 2008 for Lydall. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, net sales decreased by $3.9 million, or 5.5%, in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the third quarter of 2008.

Net sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30 were $176.4 million compared with $245 million for the comparable period of 2008. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, net sales decreased by $60.9 million, or 24.9%, in the first nine months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.

In the Performance Materials segment, net sales were $25.4 million compared with $28.1 million in the same period last year. Net sales of filtration products decreased by $0.9 million primarily due to a reduction in net sales of air filtration and fluid power products. Net sales of industrial thermal insulation products decreased $1.5 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. This decrease was caused by reductions in energy and industrial products net sale due to lower capital investments in the electrical and cryogenic markets.