NEW YORK -- Dover Corp., parent company of such leading electronics equipment makers as Universal Instruments, DEK, Vitronics and OK International, reported second-quarter sales increased 16% or $218.8 million over 2004. The Electronics group grew 25% during the period, to $141.5 million.

The company’s gross margins decreased slightly from the comparable 2004 period. The operating margins for Electronics rose to 9.3% from 9.2% during the quarter. Bookings for Electronics rose 17% to $135 million. The book-to-bill fell to 0.95, from 1.02 a year ago.

First-half sales for Electronics were up 24%, or $53.5 million, to $277 million. Operating margins slipped to 8.5% from 9.6%. Dover reported Electronics bookings of $282.1 million for the first half, up 19%.

As of June 30, the Electronics group had backlogs of $103 million, up 17%.

For the quarter, Dover saw gains from both components and commercial equipment, despite a restructuring in the Components group. Sequential quarterly sales and earnings increased 4% and 27%, respectively. Sequential quarterly bookings declined 8%.

Components recorded a 31% increase in sales over the prior year quarter, which reflected the impact of the 2004 acquisitions. Earnings increased 17% over the prior year driven by volume and cost improvements in the core businesses, and partially offset by acquisition and rationalization costs.

Compared to the previous quarter, sales increased 5% as a result of broad improvements in most markets, and earnings increased 41%. Bookings increased 21%, backlog increased 17% and the book-to-bill ratio was 0.95.

Commercial equipment sales and earnings increased 12% and 20%, respectively, over the prior year quarter due to stronger ATM sales. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.97, and bookings and backlog increased 9% and 21%, respectively.

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