UPDATE 1-Idex Corp Q4 results beat Street; shares rise

* Q4 adj EPS $0.43 vs est $0.37

* Sees Q1 EPS $0.40-$0.42 vs est $0.39

* Sees 2010 organic revenue growth of about 2-4 pct

* Shares rise 6 pct in extended trade

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Idex Corp (IEX.N), a maker of flavor dispensing and paint blending systems, posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped mainly by a rise in new orders, and forecast a strong first quarter, sending its shares up 6 percent in trading after the bell.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported earnings of $33.1 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with earnings of $22.5 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 43 cents a share.

Net sales fell 3 percent to $343.3 million. New orders in the quarter totaled $348 million, up 4 percent compared to the prior-year period.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 37 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $325.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the first quarter, the company forecast earnings of 40 cents to 42 cents a share. Analysts were expecting earnings of 39 cents a share.

For 2010, the company expects to earn $1.63 to $1.73 a share on organic revenue growth of about 2 percent to 4 percent dependent on the "extent and sustainability" of economic recovery in the second half of 2010. [ID:nWNAB2680]

Shares of the company were up at $31.00 in trading after the bell. They closed at $29.32 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bijoy Koyitty in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)