David Zapico
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at AMETEK
Thank you, Kevin and good morning, everyone. AMETEK achieved exceptional performance in the second quarter, marked by strong sales growth, outstanding operational execution and record results ahead of our expectations. In the quarter, we established records for sales, operating income, operating margins, earnings per share and EBITDA. We also ended the quarter with a record backlog.
AMETEK's continued outstanding results reflect the strength of the AMETEK growth model, the quality of our niche differentiated businesses, the benefits from our organic growth initiatives and most importantly, the outstanding efforts from our dedicated colleagues. Considering our strong second quarter results and the positive outlook for the remainder of the year, we are again increasing our earnings guidance for the full-year.
Now, let me turn to our second quarter results. Second quarter sales were $1.65 billion, up 9% over the same period in 2022. Organic sales growth was 5%, acquisitions added 4 points in the quarter and foreign currency was flat. Our book-to-bill ratio in the second quarter was 1.01, our 12th consecutive quarter of positive book-to-bill. As a result, we ended the quarter with a record backlog of $3.44 billion, up $220 million from the end of 2022 and up $1.6 billion or 91% from the end of 2020.
Operating income in the quarter was a record $419 million, 15% increase over the second quarter of 2022. Operating margins were 25.4% in the quarter, up an impressive 130 basis points from the prior year. EBITDA in the quarter was a record $496 million, up 12% over the prior year, while EBITDA margins were also impressive at 30.1%. This operating performance led to record earnings of $1.57 per diluted share, up 14% versus the second quarter of 2022 and above our guidance range of $1.49 to $1.51 per share.
Now, let me provide some additional details at the operating group level, first, the Electronic Instruments Group. The Electronic Instruments Group had a great quarter with excellent sales growth and tremendous operating performance. Sales for EIG were $1.13 billion in the quarter, up 10% from the second quarter of last year. Organic sales were up a very strong 8% with acquisitions accounting for the balance of the growth.
EIG sales growth in the second quarter was widespread across each of our divisions with growth, particularly strong in our Aerospace and Defense and Ultra Precision Technologies businesses. EIG's operating performance was impressive with strong profit growth and margin expansion. Our operating income was $307 million, up 16% versus our prior year, while operating margins were 27.1%, up a robust 130 basis points from the prior year.
The Electromechanical Group also delivered strong sales growth and excellent operating performance in the quarter. EMG's second quarter sales were a record $511 million, up 5% versus the prior year, driven by the acquisition of Bison Engineering, with organic sales roughly flat in the quarter. EMG's operating income in the quarter was $136 million, up 10% compared to the prior year period. EMG's second quarter operating margins were excellent at 26.6%, up 100 basis points versus the prior year, while EMG's core operating margins, which exclude acquisition dilution were up a sizable 180 basis points. Overall, AMETEK achieved outstanding performance in the second quarter of 2023.
In addition to AMETEK's continued strong operating execution, our strong results speak to the attractiveness and diversity of the end-markets we serve. Our businesses saw leading positions in attractive niche market segments. Through our continued organic growth investments and strategic acquisitions, we are expanding our presence on market segments and niches aligned with strong, secular growth drivers. As a result, our businesses are well-positioned with differentiated solutions that benefit from the meaningful and long-term investments in areas such as electrification, clean energy, healthcare efficiency and manufacturing and insuring [Phonetic].
In addition to our alignment with strong growth markets, AMETEK has seen great success from our organic growth initiatives and investments. For all of 2023, we expect to spend over $100 million on incremental growth investments. These investments are largely focused on expanding our sales, marketing and commercial excellence initiatives, as well as broadening our research, development and engineering efforts.
AMETEK's research, development and engineering teams across our businesses consistently deliver innovative and next-generation products, tailored to meet the unique needs of our customers. While there are numerous examples across the company, I wanted to highlight our Abaco business unit for their outstanding accomplishments.
Abaco is a leading provider of commercial off-the-shelf embedded computing systems for aerospace, defense and specialized industrial applications. Demand for Abaco solutions remain strong, given their position as a leading provider of ruggedized technology solutions with advanced thermal management capabilities.
Abaco was awarded the best overall design for high-performance PCBAs at the recent Xcelerator Technology Innovation Awards. Abaco also recently introduced a next-generation integrated computing and graphics card with the latest GPU technology. This provides our customers with advanced computing graphics processing and security capabilities required in AI-focused applications, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, radar signal processing and deep machine learning for autonomous systems.
In addition to Abaco, many other businesses are well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand for high computing power and analytics. We recognized the pivotal role of organic growth initiatives and driving our overall growth strategy. These investments in organic growth, coupled with our market leadership and attractive market exposures, position the company for continued success in driving sustainable long-term growth.
Now switching to our capital deployment and acquisition strategy. Over the last three quarters, we deployed approximately $530 million on the acquisition of three businesses Navitar, RTDS and Bison Engineering. Each of these businesses is integrating nicely into AMETEK and each is very well-positioned to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities in their markets.
Our acquisition pipeline remains very strong and our businesses and internal M&A teams are actively managing a number of opportunities. AMETEK remains committed to leveraging our strong cash flow to pursue strategic acquisitions that align with our growth objectives. With a robust balance sheet and significant financial capacity, we are well-positioned to support our acquisition strategy and capitalize on value-creating opportunities in the future.
Now, turning to our outlook for the remainder of the year. While uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment continue to warn caution in the short-term, we are confident in our ability to navigate through these challenges and delivered strong results. Building upon our strong first half results and positive outlook for the remainder of the year, we are again increasing our earnings guidance.
For the full-year, we expect overall sales to be up mid to high single-digits with organic sales expected to be up mid single-digits. Diluted earnings per share for the year are now expected to be in the range of $6.18 to $6.26, up 9% to 10% compared to last year's results. This is an increase from our previous guidance range of $5.96 to $6.10 per diluted share. For the third quarter, we anticipate overall sales to be up mid single-digits with adjusted earnings of $1.56 to $1.58 per share, up 8% to 9% versus the prior year.
In summary, AMETEK's second quarter results were excellent. Our businesses continued to deliver excellent performance, benefiting from differentiated technology solutions to cater to diverse and growing niche markets. The implementation of our organic growth initiatives has yielded higher levels of growth, while our portfolio remains aligned with attractive mid and long-cycle markets. Our asset-light business model and strong cash flows provide us with the flexibility to navigate challenging environments, while actively deploying capital to drive increased shareholder value. As a result, AMETEK remains firmly positioned to deliver long-term sustainable growth.
I will now turn it over to Bill Burke, who will cover some of the financial details of the quarter and then we'll be glad to take your questions. Bill?