SKF AB, the world’s largest maker of ball bearings, reported its biggest-ever quarterly profit as sales to automotive and industrial customers extended a recovery.

Second-quarter net income quadrupled to 1.41 billion kronor ($192 million), or 3.09 kronor per share, from 314 million kronor, or 0.69 krona, a year earlier, Gothenburg, Sweden-based SKF said today in a statement. Profit beat the 1.23 billion- krona average estimate of 14 analysts. Sales increased 11 percent to 15.7 billion kronor.

“We’ve shown a very strong resilience in our business,” Chief Executive Officer Tom Johnstone said today in a phone interview. “We’ve been able to deliver record profitability levels at the same time as investing in our business for the future with the opening of new plants -- two in India and one in Russia -- over the last three, four months.”

SKF, considered an industry bellwether because its bearings are used in products such as construction cranes and cars, is benefiting from a global increase in manufacturing, including higher sales of components to the automotive industry in Asia. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest luxury-car maker, raised its 2010 sales and earnings forecast on July 13 on Chinese market growth and demand for the new 5-series sedan.

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