Dow Jones Newswires | Illinois Tool Works Inc. said its revenue
jumped 19 percent in the latest three-month period ended April 30,
continuing a recent trend of rising sales as all of its segments saw
improvement from last year’s woes.

The bellwether maker of products ranging from fasteners to food-service and welding equipment said acquisitions and currency translation added 2 percent and 5 percent , respectively to the revenue growth for the period from a year earlier.

The strongest segment was transportation, which saw a 34 percent  sales increase. The weakest was food equipment, whose sales rose 0.7 percent .

Illinois Tool was hit hard by a slump in demand as 2008 came to a close, but results have been steadily improving recently as the economy continues to heal. The company last month said it swung to a first-quarter profit and raised its full-year forecast as it saw global economic recovery boost its sales of auto parts.

Shares of Illinois Tool, which reiterated its second-quarter and full-year forecasts on Monday, closed at $49.36 on Friday and were inactive premarket. The stock has risen 50 percent in the past year.