Lydall has closed its second quarter with declines in both sales and earnings. Net sales for the second quarter of 2009 were $56 million, compared with $84 million for the same period in 2008. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, net sales decreased by $24.6 million, or 29.3%, in the second quarter of 2009 compared with the second quarter last year.

Net sales for the six months ended June 30, 2009 were $110.3 million compared with $173.9 million for the comparable period of 2008. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, net sales decreased by $57 million, or 32.8%, in the first half of 2009, compared with the first half of 2008.

In the Performance Materials segment, net sales were $23.2 million compared with $31.2 million in the same period last year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, segment net sales decreased $7 million in the second quarter 2009. Net sales of filtration products decreased by $3 million primarily due to reductions in air filtration product net sales. Net sales of industrial thermal insulation products decreased by $4 million in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the same period of 2008.