Greeting and welcome to the Lincoln Electric second quarter 2011 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Vincent Petrella, CFO of Lincoln Electric. Thank you. Mr. Petrella, you may begin.

And thank you, Latania and good morning to all of you that are joining our 2011 second quarter earnings call. Results for the quarter, I am happier, were issued this morning prior to the markets opening. Additional copies of the news release are available through the Lincoln Electric Investor Relations department or on our company website. John Stropki, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will start off the discussion today and provide some color on the quarter and the regions. Today’s call also includes a synchronized slide presentation which is available through the webcast and will be posted for replay. But before we start the discussion today, let me remind you that certain statements made during this call and during our discussions afterward may be forward-looking and actual results may differ from our expectations. Actual results may differ materially from the statements we make today due to a variety of factors that could adversely affect the company’s operating results. Risks and uncertainties that may affect our results are provided in our press release and in our SEC filings. Now let me turn the call over to John Stropki.

Thank you, Vincent. Good morning to all of you on the call today. As the economies around the world continue to grow, we improved our performance and market position throughout the global markets. Second quarter sales were $699.3 million, an increase of 35.6 % from last year’s quarter and also represents the ninth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Equipment and consumable sales were both very strong and each ended up the quarter up over 35 %. As the income for the quarter rose 75% to $57 million and diluted earnings per share increased 79% to $0.68 per share. We are very pleased with both the strength and the quality of the operating results for the quarter. A number of factors contributed to the growth and strong results in the quarter, including market share gains, new product introductions and our ability to provide our end-user customers and distributor partners with welding solutions they need to be productive and successful growing their businesses. All of this is made possible, of course, through our strong global management team and the dedicated workforce whose hard work and high energy keep us strong and growing stronger in the increasingly challenging global marketplace. The significant increase in both sales and operating profit provide us with good momentum for the second half of the year. However, given the ongoing global economic and political uncertainty permeating throughout a number of markets, we remain optimistic, but cautious in our outlook for the rest of this year. Vince will get into the financial detail shortly, but before that, I want to cover some of the highlights of the quarter as it related to our performance by segments. First here in North America, business conditions in our North American operations remained strong during the quarter. Sales were $322 million, up 26.7%…

Thank you, John. As John pointed out, our second quarter of 2011’s financial results reflected a significant quarter over quarter improvement in revenue and operating earnings from the second quarter of 2010. Consolidated sales were up about 36% and operating income improved to $80 million. Second quarter also represented our ninth consecutive quarter of sales growth as sales were up 17% compared with the first quarter of 2011. On a consolidated basis and compared with the second quarter of 2010, volume increased reported sales by 17.2% and foreign currency effects increased our sales line by 5.4%. Pricing increased sales by 8.4% and finally acquisitions contributed an increase of 4.6%. Second quarter gross profit margins decreased to 28% compared with 28.8% in the comparable prior-year period. The decrease in gross margin resulted from the acquisitions of lower margin businesses in Europe and the price/cost pressures in the Asia-Pacific segment. The prior year included a $2.3 million charge related to the devaluation of the Venezuelan currency and the change to highly inflationary accounting. LIFO charges in the quarter were $3.6 million compared $2.4 million in the second quarter of 2010. SG&A expense for the quarter was $115.5 million or 16.5% of sales, compared with $101 million or 19.6% of sales in the prior year, an improvement of 310 basis points. The increase in SG&A expense was primarily driven by higher bonus accruals of $11.3 million, as operating profit increased substantially on a year over year basis. Foreign currency translations increased reported SG&A expenses by $3.5 million in the quarter as the US dollar weakened on a year over year basis. Operating income for the quarter at $80 million was a 11.4% of sales, compared with $51.1 million or 9.9% of sales in the same year-ago quarter, an improvement of 150 basis points.…

Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: Good morning, guys.

Good morning, Chuck.

Good morning. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: First let me congratulate you on a very impressive quarter, particularly in light of your European competitors’ results.

Thank you. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: My first question was just, can you maintain the share gains that you saw in the quarter? And if so, how will you do that?

Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: Alright. Your competitor mentioned that the financial issues of the European countries is going to have a – effect into the real economy, I was wondering if you’ve seen any sign of that?

Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co:

I mean, are we concerned about what we read and see in Europe? Sure. I think everybody is. And until the debt crisis is firmly resolved and the economies are put on a more stable track, that will be an ongoing issue that we’ll all have to deal with. I think, again, the opportunities that we see are certain of the very strong export economies of Europe, particularly Germany that relates to high-tech products and their automotive sectors are areas that we focused our attention and we seem to be doing quite well in those areas, but yes, we are concerned about what we see in Europe. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: So, maybe necessarily you’ve seen (inaudible) jump in the orders as well?

Yes, I would say if you looked at the quarter’s progression, clearly June, the final month in the quarter was the softest quarter from – softest month from a year over year volume standpoint and we’ve seen that continue into the July period. It’s obviously early in this quarter, but from a sequential standpoint, our European business saw a slowing in volumes. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: Okay.

And just to remind everyone that we know that this quarter in Europe is particularly soft because of the traditional August shutdown through much of the Western European markets. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: Got it. Okay. And my last question was just in regard to your comment that you’ve seen the kind of normal slowing in third quarter order patterns, is that to say we should expect, I guess, at least, directionally that sequentially we’ll be down for the third quarter?

Well, our normal seasonality, Chuck, with the – over the past several years would suggest that the second quarter tends to be our best quarter in earnings and the third quarter is generally a bit less than that based on plant shutdown and summer vacations that basically occur around the world. The sales line can hold up near the second quarter, but from an operating standpoint, because of the issue of covering your fixed overheads with lower production level is to be at lower profitability. Eight out of the last ten years of our business, the second quarter has been our highest quarter of the year and the two times that it wasn’t was when we were in a downturn in 2001 and 2009.

I guess, one other point, Chuck, relating to the second quarter as it relates to geographies around the world, this year Ramadan which will have a pretty significant increase in the Middle East in August, so we’ll have that compounded by the European holiday season. Chuck Murphy – Sidoti & Co: Okay. Thank you, guys.

Our next question comes from Tom Hayes with Piper Jaffray. Please proceed with your question. Tom Hayes – Piper Jaffray: Thank you. Good morning, gentlemen. Congratulations on the quarter. Two questions, one, it looked like you had solid growth from your recent acquisitions in the European market, I guess, Russia specifically, I am just wondering maybe if you could provide some color on how all the integrations are going, are we done with that kind of market opportunity, and (inaudible) Poland facilities?

Well, our – let me – three questions, so I’ll try to cover all three of them. First is that, how is our integration going on, we are early in the integration process, we still believe that it represents a very significant opportunity by merging the two businesses in one location and capturing significant overhead improvements and efficiencies as a result of that. That will take several quarters to be completely implemented depending on our need to build out some infrastructure and the timing of that. We are very bullish about the opportunity that this acquisition presents us in Russia. We have a major position now in a very strategically important market. We are going to great growth opportunities in leveraging the existing product lines of those acquisitions with our other products from around the world and your point, yes, a lot of that additional product will come from our equipment and consumable factories in Poland.

Tom Hayes – Piper Jaffray:

Yeah, I think we will see similar bonus accruals to the extent that our profitability maintains its current run rate, that’s what we will likely accrue under our formal bonus programs. I think we will continue to see the kind of leverage that you see on the SG&A line. Our G&A costs have been relatively stable on a year-over-year basis. The selling costs are a little bit more variable that move up with volume levels and certainly, the biggest variable is the bonus accruals that move up as profitability. I expect that this will continue through the last half of 2011 and into next year. It has been a very well managed SG&A line item.

Tom, I would also comment, we’ve talked about this in the past, as we moved into more of the emerging market areas and have grown our presence there with a much lower SG&A businesses. So, while the gross margin is lower, the SG&A is substantially lower and that blend of mix has a big impact on the total SG&A percentage for the company. Tom Hayes – Piper Jaffray:

Tom Hayes – Piper Jaffray:

Yes, actually 68/32. Tom Hayes – Piper Jaffray: Great. Thanks, guys.

Our next question comes from Mark Douglass with Longbow Research. Please proceed with your question. Mark Douglass – Longbow Research: Hi, good morning. Congratulations.

Thanks, Mark. Mark Douglass – Longbow Research:

Mark Douglass – Longbow Research: Okay. And you talked about the issues in China, are you – is the shipbuilding still (inaudible) some confirmation there and I think you mentioned before , maybe trying to move some of the product lines – other applications?

Mark Douglass – Longbow Research: Okay. And then bring out your – things progress, you just – you continue to better sourcing and (inaudible) consolidation in China, so you are expecting modest improvements in EBIT margins in Asia-Pacific?

Mark Douglass – Longbow Research: Okay. Final question, you mentioned that the building equipment and consumables hit the 35 – 35% sales growth, is it correct then to infer that equipment volume gains have been much better than at consumables, because always pricing in consumables is a lot stronger?

– :

Mark Douglass – Longbow Research: Okay, thanks.

Our next question comes from Walt Liptak – Barrington Research. Please proceed with your question.

Hi, thanks, guys. Good morning, and great quarter. – Barrington Research: Hi, thanks, guys. Good morning, and great quarter.

Thanks.

I want to ask about – the question that probably most people would like to know, we start with PLC, having the problems with (inaudible) I wonder if we can get a comment from you about your history with the company and if you could possibly (inaudible)? – Barrington Research: I want to ask about – the question that probably most people would like to know, we start with PLC, having the problems with (inaudible) I wonder if we can get a comment from you about your history with the company and if you could possibly (inaudible)?

Walt – Barrington Research: Okay. I mean, you have a long history – the company had a lot of resources 10 years ago looking at Charter, is it something that you would say that you’ve already tried that and there is other opportunities for the company or are you open to opportunities?

Okay. And let me try again on Europe, the volumes were better than I expected despite the things going on t here and pricing is good. Are you – with the cautious outlook, I guess, you have for the second half, are you expecting pricing is going to get tougher and/or volumes coming up, or is there enough to offset with the market share gains and the sectors that you are (inaudible)? – Barrington Research: Okay. And let me try again on Europe, the volumes were better than I expected despite the things going on t here and pricing is good. Are you – with the cautious outlook, I guess, you have for the second half, are you expecting pricing is going to get tougher and/or volumes coming up, or is there enough to offset with the market share gains and the sectors that you are (inaudible)?

In John comments he mentioned that steel and commodity costs have risen significantly this year, but we are seeing a moderating in that priding and so that would tell me at this point that the biggest of the price increases are probably behind us, but of course, what happens in the last half of the year will drive what we do in pricing, but where we stand today, it doesn’t look like at this point that we see on the horizon significant input cost increases in our largest commodity buys. From a volume standpoint, I think we think – I commented on a earlier question that we have seen some sequential slowing in Europe, John pointed out Ramadan and the normal declines in the third quarter will likely put pressure on volumes in our European segment for the third and the last half of the year.

– Barrington Research:

Yes, it should be running right around 30%, Walt and as I’ve cautioned before though, that is highly dependent upon our mix of earnings around the world in the last half of the year, we would expect at this point in time based on our forecast of the rest of the year that we ought to be around that 30% rate.

Okay, great. Okay, thanks, guys. – Barrington Research: Okay, great. Okay, thanks, guys.

Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review: Good morning.

Good morning, Jason. Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review: If you could talk a little bit about Japan, if you are seeing any early benefits from the infrastructure rebuilding that’s going to be needed there?

Jason, we are still a pretty small player in Japan. I mean, I’m pleased with the performance that we are getting, but it is off of such a small base. We would not be a huge recipient of major economic growth within the Japanese market. Now that being said, as the infrastructure ought to be rebuilt, we do have pretty good positions with some of the heavy equipment manufacturers in that part of the world and I would guess that it’s not going to be all the domestic equipment that is part of the rebuilding effort. So, it does represent an opportunity, but I don’t view it as being a huge opportunity for us in the short term. Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review: Okay. That’s helpful. Looking at the US, are you seeing opportunities – you hear a lot about the infrastructure need in this country with bridges and so forth being structurally deficient, I am wondering if you are seeing any kind of benefits with that area?

Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review:

Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review:

We spent $12.4 million and the average price was right around 36, give a moment, I’ll get the exact number here. Yeah, we purchased in the quarter 365,000 shares for $12.4 million. Jason Rogers – Great Lakes Review: Okay. Thanks a lot.

Actually $34 a share. I’m sorry. $34 a share.

(Operator instructions) Our next question comes from Steve Walter [ph] with KeyBanc. Please proceed with your question. Steve Walter – KeyBanc: Hi, good morning, guys.

Hi, Steve.

Hi, Steve. Steve Walter – KeyBanc: Just want to talk about the incremental contribution margin, obviously a very big revenue quarter, incremental came in around 16%, so below the level you talked about being achievable on the last call. It sounds like you are being a bit more cautious on 3Q, should we think about mid-to-high teen incremental margins as being right in the back half?

That’s probably correct. The second quarter, our incremental were hurt by the Russian acquisitions that I talked about in the call and afterwards on some of the questions as well as the negatives, if you will, in Asia-Pacific region. We added over 20% to the sales line and our margins and profitability actually declined slightly and that certainly hurt our incrementals in the quarter. The other core business, including North America showed some nice improvement in Europe in Harris and South America, but Asia Pacific and the European acquisitions hurt us. Steve Walter – KeyBanc: Right. I had to hop off. I think we are talking about Asia-Pac really. I had to hop off for a second, but was the issue there more competitive in nature or more end market or – ? If you already talked about that, I can check the transcript.

Steve Walter – KeyBanc: And John, I did hear you say there is more challenging market conditions there right now. Last night, one of the Chinese PMI indices slipped sub – 50. If Chinese growth would come in lower than people expect, would your strategy be to get more aggressive on price to take some share and kind of jumpstart that or would you on remaining profitable for however long that lasts?

Steve Walter – KeyBanc: Okay, got it. Thanks very much.

There are no further questions in queue at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Petrella for closing comments.

Well, thank you Latania and thanks for joining us on the second quarter call. We think we made significant progress towards meeting our strategic and operations objectives and we very much look forward to talking to you again after the third quarter in October of this year to give you another update on that progress. Again, thanks for joining us today.

This concludes today teleconference. You disconnect your lines at this time and thank you for your participation.