Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT), Latrobe, PA, reported sales for the second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010, were $565.8 million, an increase of 28 percent over the same period a year ago. Organic sales grew 31 percent. Profit attributable to the company was $43.5 million, compared to $6 million in second quarter of fiscal 2010.

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\”The business environment continues to reflect improvement on a worldwide basis, and sales volumes remain strong,\” said Carlos Cardoso, president and CEO. \”As we move forward, Kennametal’s global team will continue to execute our strategies. We will maintain our customer-focused enterprise approach and plan to maximize additional margin expansion opportunities.\”

Fiscal year-to-date, sales were $1.09 billion, up 28.4 percent over the first six months of fiscal 2010. Sales grew organically by 33 percent. Profit attributable to the company was $78.4 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $3.85 million.

Industrial segment sales of $369 million improved by 33 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by organic growth of 37 percent On a regional basis, sales increased by 48 percent in Asia, 34 percent in Europe and 31 percent in the Americas.

Infrastructure segment sales of $197 million increased 19 percent in the fourth quarter. On a regional basis, organic sales increased by approximately 24 percent in Asia, 21 percent in the Americas and 12 percent in Europe.