Honeywell profit beats estimates; sales up 8 percent

Honeywell International Inc reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and revenue on Friday, as sales grew across its major segments.

The diversified U.S. manufacturer of aerospace parts and climate control systems said net income rose to $947 million, or $1.19 per share. That's up considerably from $251 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier, when the company recorded a large pension expense.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of $1.24 per share beat the average estimate of analysts by 3 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue increased 8 percent to $10.39 billion, nearly $200 million ahead of estimates.

Honeywell backed its 2014 financial targets, set last month, which include earnings-per-share growth of 8 to 12 percent on sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.

"While we think it's prudent to remain cautious on the global economy at this time, we're increasingly confident in our 2014 outlook based on the momentum from the fourth quarter," Honeywell Chief Executive Officer Dave Cote said in a statement.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Bernadette Baum)