Bearings and specialty steel maker Timken Co. cited better demand from automakers, more efficient manufacturing and cost cuts on Thursday in reporting a 32 percent jump in first-quarter profit.

The company earned $28.6 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a profit of $870,000, or 1 cent per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings in the latest quarter were 57 cents per share.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $913.7 million from $866.6 million a year earlier. Sales increases in light vehicle and heavy truck market sectors yielded the largest gains, while sales in off-highway and rail market sectors were lower than the prior year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items from their estimates, were expecting first-quarter earnings of just 24 cents per share on revenue of $832.5 million.

The company expects full-year revenue to increase roughly 20 percent to 25 percent over 2009. It raised its full-year earnings estimate, excluding special items, to a range of $1.60 to $1.80 per share, compared with its prior estimate of 85 cents per share to $1.15 per share.

The new forecast is sharply above analysts' average estimate of $1.21 per share.

Total debt at March 31 was $515.9 million, while total cash on hand was $709 million.

Company shares rose $3.29, or 10.2 percent, to close at $35.57.

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