(Reuters) - Honeywell International Inc posted an 11.7 percent rise in quarterly profit, topping Wall Street forecasts, as strong U.S. demand for building-control systems and specialty chemicals offset weakness in Europe.
The company on Wednesday also raised the low end of its full-year profit forecast by 5 cents, and now anticipates 2012 earnings of $4.40 to $4.55 per share, representing growth of 9 percent to 12 percent.
It said it expected to push profit margins higher this year, which would offset lower-than-previously forecast sales.
Chief Executive David Cote said the company, which also makes automotive turbochargers and cockpit electronics, faces an "increasingly uncertain global economic environment."
Honeywell shares rose 1.5 percent to $55.35 in premarket trading, from a $54.54 close on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares are little changed for the year, lagging an 8 percent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.SPX>.
Second-quarter earnings came to $905 million, or $1.14 per share, compared with $810 million, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier. Analysts' average forecast was $1.11 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 3.8 percent to $9.44 billion, below the $9.56 billion analysts had expected.
The company lowered its full-year sales forecast by $200 million to a range of $37.8 billion to $38.4 billion.
Honeywell is on the leading edge of a wave of earnings reports from top U.S. manufacturers, with United Technologies Corp
(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Maureen Bavdek and John Wallace)
