Honeywell Profit Tops Wall Street View on Margin Boost

Honeywell International posted fourth-quarter earnings just above Wall Street estimates, reflecting the diversified U.S. manufacturer's campaign to boost profit margins in the face of sluggish sales growth.

The maker of cockpit electronics and systems to manage the climate and security of large buildings said on Friday that earnings came to $251 million, or 32 cents per share. For the year-earlier period, the company booked a loss of $310 million, or 40 cents per share.

Factoring out accounting items related to the company's pension plan, the profit was $1.10 per share, topping the analysts' average forecast of $1.09, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Overall profit margins rose to 15.6% of sales from 15.1% a year earlier as Chief Executive Officer Dave Cote has been pushing to boost productivity across the company's four divisions, including consolidating businesses into fewer locations.

Revenue rose 1% to $9.58 billion from $9.47 billion a year earlier.

The company's performance materials unit, whose products include chemicals and equipment used in oil and gas production, notched the strongest sales growth in the quarter, up 8%. At the transportation systems unit, which makes products that include automobile turbochargers, sales fell 11% reflecting weak European demand.

The Morris Township, New Jersey-based company confirmed its full-year profit forecast of $4.75 to $4.95 per share and said it expected earnings to rise 6% to 11% in the first quarter.

Honeywell shares have risen about 18.5% over the past year, outpacing the 13.6% rise of the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index.