Ingersoll-Rand Co., the maker of Bobcat machinery and Thermo-King refrigerated trucks, said first- quarter profit fell 14 percent on slower sales of equipment used in housing construction.

Net income dropped to $217.5 million, or 70 cents a share, from $253.2 million, or 76 cents, a year earlier. Profit beat analysts’ estimates. Sales rose 5.7 percent to $2.67 billion, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

Chief Executive Officer Herbert Henkel said he plans to spend at least $2 billion this year on share buybacks, dividends and acquisitions. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company has expanded overseas to offset a slowdown in U.S. housing and high commodity costs.

“Results weren’t that robust but expectations were low and they came slightly above,” said New York-based Igor Maryasis, a Prudential Equity Group Inc. analyst. He has an “underweight” rating on the shares and doesn’t own any. “They’re trying hard to improve their performance.”

The results beat the 69-cent average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Profit this quarter will be 93 cents to 98 cents a share, the company said. Analysts estimated 95 cents. The company said full-year earnings may rise to $3.45 to $3.55, compared with $3.53 projected by analysts.

Shares of Ingersoll-Rand, run from Montvale, New Jersey, rose 15 cents to $46.21 at 12:28 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They gained 4.6 percent in the 12 months through yesterday.

India

In February, Henkel, 59, agreed to sell the company’s road building-equipment unit for $1.3 billion in cash to Volvo AB, the world’s second-biggest truckmaker. Henkel is looking to buy companies in the industrial, climate-control and security areas, he said.

“Acquisitions will become more important for this company,” said Eli Lustgarten, an analyst at Independence, Ohio- based Longbow Research, who has a “buy” rating on the shares and doesn’t own any. “They have strong cash flow. To maintain growth rate they’ll have to supplement the current business.”

The company gets 65 percent of its sales from the U.S., Maryasis said.

Ingersoll-Rand is investing in India to sell refrigerated trucks that will keep agricultural products fresh, Henkel said.

Bobcat’s Share

Through Bobcat, Ingersoll-Rand’s market share in the construction-equipment market dropped to 13 percent last year, from 21 percent in 2001, as Caterpillar Inc. and Deere & Co. gained ground, Maryasis said. Selling the unit may help Ingersoll-Rand focus on more stable businesses, he said.

“While Bobcat has been one of the company’s growth engines in the past 10 years, it will most likely become a drag over the next several years as the U.S. residential market stabilizes at lower levels,” Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Andrew Obin in New York wrote in an April 18 note.

Obin, who has a “neutral” rating on the shares and doesn’t own any, estimated Bobcat generated about $2.2 billion in revenue last year, making up about 19 percent of sales.

Information from: www.bloomberg.com

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