Johnson Controls net up; industrial equipment sales rise...

The Milwaukee-based maker of car parts and building climate-control systems that heat and cool buildings said net income for the fiscal 2005 fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 rose to $283.8 million, or $1.45 a share. That includes a one-time gain on the sale of assets of $8.7 million.

In the prior fourth quarter, the company had net income of $273 million, or $1.41 a share.

Sales in the latest quarter rose about 8 percent to $6.9 billion from $6.4 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast, on average, earnings of $1.49 a share, before special items, and $7.07 billion in sales.

Shares of Johnson Controls rose $2.70, or 4.1 percent, to $68.57 in late-morning trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Monday's strongest level of $68.95, at that time, was a 52-week high surpassing the prior high of $68.37 set Oct. 20. There was a 52-week low of $52.57 on April 18.

Johnson Controls said its operating income fell 13 percent to $206 million from $238 million, mostly because of commodity costs "which more than offset the benefit of operational improvements."

For the full 2005 fiscal year, net income rose to $909.4 million, or $4.68 a share, from the prior year's $815.7 million, or $4.24 a share.

Excluding items, net income increased to $872.6 million, or $4.49 a share, from the previous year's $779.9 million, or $4.05 a share.

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