Atlanta's Zep posts big second quarter

Sales grew by 15.2 percent, or $146.8 million, for Zep Inc., the Atlanta-based industrial cleaning company, during the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

Earnings per share rose 10 cents, or 233 percent, from a similar timeframe in fiscal 2010.

“Revenue from a number of the end markets we serve -- specifically industrial, food and transportation -- showed noteworthy improvement when compared to the year-earlier period,” said Zep CEO John Morgan. “We are particularly pleased to be seeing a return to organic growth as a number of key initiatives are beginning to bear fruit.”