Honeywell International Inc. raised the lower end of its profit forecast for a second time this year and posted earnings that beat estimates as acquisitions boosted sales.
Earnings climbed to $1.66 a share, the company said in a statement Friday. Analysts had predicted $1.64, according to the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue increased 2.2 percent to $9.99 billion, compared with an average estimate of $10.1 billion.
Honeywell boosted the bottom of its 2016 earnings guidance by five cents to $6.60 a share, while keeping the higher figure at $6.70. The maker of cockpit controls and building security systems also lowered its forecast for 2016 sales by $300 million.
Chief Executive Officer Dave Cote paid $6 billion to buy companies last year and is adding more this year, such as the $1.5 billion purchase of warehouse-automation equipment maker Intelligrated, to help juice sluggish sales amid lackluster global growth. Efficiency gains have helped Honeywell absorb the cost of integrating the new businesses.
Most of Honeywell’s acquisitions have been in the Automation and Control Solutions unit, where revenue increased 9.4 percent to lead the sales gain. The company also reported the split of that business into two new segments: home and building technologies, and safety and productivity solutions.
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